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EDITORIAL INFORMATION

Interpreting Astronomical Spectra describes how physical conditions such as temperature, density and composition can be obtained from the spectra of a broad range of astronomical environments ranging from the cold interstellar medium to very hot coronal gas and from stellar atmospheres to quasars.

In this book the author has succeeded in providing a coherent and integrated approach to the interpretation of astronomical spectroscopy, placing the emphasis on the physical understanding of spectrum formation rather than on instrumental considerations. MKS units and consistent symbols are employed throughout so that the fundamental ideas common to diverse environments are made clear and the importance of different temperature ranges and densities can be seen. Aimed at senior undergraduates and graduates studying physics, astronomy and astrophysics, this book will also appeal to the professional astronomer.

(Extracted from the back cover).

GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

-Contents.

-Preface.

-Introduction.

-1- Radiative Transfer and Model Atmospheres.

-2- Microscopic Processes and Statistical Equilibrium.

-3- Line Profiles.

-4- Line Formation.

-5- Stellar Spectra.

-6- Photoionized Clouds-Gaseous Nebulae and AGN.

-7- Photoionized Clouds-AGN.

-8- The Spectrum of the Cold Interstellar Medium.

-9- Masers.

-10- Wind and Circumstellar Shells.

-11- Very Hot Thin Gases and Coronae.

-Appendix 1.

-Appendix 2: Escape Probabilities.

-Select Bibliography.

-Index.

OUR REVIEW

When we think of the amount of information that has been discovered belonging to the sky bodies sited at many light years from us and from which we can scarcely detect but a weak trace of light, we truly realise the importance that one of the most essential tools of modern astronomy has: spectroscopy. Because it precisely is in spectra where the skills of our researchers have succeeded in extracting almost all the information that has finally shaped the Universe surrounding us theoretically. The author, then, devotes his book to astronomical spectra, and he also tells us how to interpret them in full detail. This is a technical work aimed at specialists or to those who expect to become specialists some day.

Obviously, Emerson will not only talk about the spectra of the stars but also about all the spectra produced in the universe, no matter their origin. Armed with the necessary mathematical paraphernalia, the reader will find in these pages a magnificient reference point, a wonderful textbook that should solve most of the doubts that this interesting, crucial aspect of astronomical methodology sometimes provides. To attain this, the author intends to cover the widest range of possible cases, thus helping to its comprehension both for the advanced students and those readers who, despite their knowledge of the spectroscopic techniques, have never applied them on all available wavelengths, temperatures and densities.