Provides an introductory vision of arguments from spherical astronomy to celestial mechanics to astronomical photometry and spectroscopy

Presents the information at an introductory level without sacrificing scientific rigor

Includes worked examples, references, and Web site evaluations

Covers rules for transforming coordinates from one system to another

Discusses the diurnal rotation and annual revolution of the Earth to allow understanding of the several definitions of time used in Astronomy

Gives several operative definitions of time together with the transformations among them

Examines the influence of the Earth's atmosphere on the apparent coordinates of the stars and on the shape of their images

Explains the dynamics of two bodies under their mutual gravitational attraction

Providing a broad overview of foundational concepts, Fundamentals of Astronomy covers topics ranging from spherical astronomy to celestial mechanics, closing with two chapters that discuss elements of astronomical photometry and spectroscopy. Supplementary and explanatory notes at the end of each chapter provide references to material published in scientific journals, and solved and unsolved exercises allow students to review their understanding of the material. Broad in coverage, the book presents arguments from classical astronomy, such as spherical astronomy, that form the foundation for future work in the field.

Features

SPHERICAL ASTRONOMY
Elements of Plane Trigonometry
Some Properties of Plane Triangles
Elements of Spherical Trigonometry Cartesian and Polar Coordinates
Terrestrial Latitude and Longitude on the Spherical Earth
Elements of Vector Calculus
Notes
Exercises

ASTRONOMICAL REFERENCE SYSTEMS
The Alt-Azimuth System
The Hour Angle and Declination System
The Equatorial System
The Ecliptic System
The Galactic System
Notes

TRANSFORMATIONS OF COORDINATES
Transformations by Matrix Rotation
Transformations by Spherical Trigonometry
Some Examples and Applications
Exercises

THE MOVEMENTS OF THE EARTH AND THE ASTRONOMICAL TIMES
The Movements of the Earth
The Sidereal Time (ST)
The Solar Time and the Equation of Time
The Universal Time (UT)
The Tropical Year and the Rates of ST and UT
The Year and the Julian Calendar
The Besselian Year or Annus Fictus
The Seasons
The Julian Date
Notes
Exercises

THE MOVEMENTS OF THE FUNDAMENTAL PLANES
First Dynamical Considerations
The Precession of the Equinox
The Movements of the Fundamental Planes
First-Order Effects of the Precession on the Stellar Coordinates
The Nutation
Approximate Formulae for General Precession and Nutation
Newcomb's Rotation Formulae for Precession
Precession and Position Angles
Notes
Exercises

DYNAMICS OF EARTH'S ROTATION
Newton's Lunisolar Precession
The Lunisolar Torque
The Precessional Potential
The Earth's Free Rotation
Recent Developments
Notes
Exercises

ABERRATION OF LIGHT
The Solar Aberration
The Annual Aberration
Lorentz Transformations
Effects of Annual Aberration on the Stellar Coordinates
The Diurnal Aberration
Planetary Aberration
The Gravitational Deflection of Light
Notes

THE PARALLAX
The Trigonometric Parallax
The Diurnal Parallax
Solar and Lunar Parallaxes
The Annual Parallax
Secular and Dynamical Parallaxes
Notes
Exercises

RADIAL VELOCITIES AND PROPER MOTIONS
Radial Velocities
Proper Motions
Variation of the Equatorial Coordinates
Interplay between Proper Motions and Precession Constants
Astrometric Radial Velocities
Apex of Stellar Motions and Group Parallaxes
The Peculiar Motion of the Sun
Secular and Statistical Parallaxes
Differential Rotation of the Galaxy and Oort's Constants
Notes
Exercises

THE ASTRONOMICAL TIMES
The Sidereal Time ST
The Solar Time T
The Year
The Dynamical Time
The Atomic Time
Notes
Exercises

THE TERRESTRIAL ATMOSPHERE
The Vertical Structure of the Atmosphere
The Refraction
Effects of Refraction on the Apparent Coordinates
The Chromatic Refraction of the Atmosphere
Relationships between Refraction Index, Pressure and Temperature
Scintillation and Seeing
Notes

THE TWO-BODY PROBLEM
The Barycentric Treatment
The Gravitational Attraction
The Relative Movement
Planetary Masses from Kepler's Third Law
Escape Velocity
Some Considerations on Artificial Satellites
Notes
Exercises

ORBITAL ELEMENTS AND EPHEMERIDES
Kepler's Equation
Ephemerides from the Orbital Elements
Planetary Configurations and Titius -Bode Law
Orbital Elements from the Observations
Application to Visual Binary Stars
Notes

ELEMENTS OF PERTURBATION THEORIES
Perturbations of the Planetary Movements
Planet Plus Small Moon
Case Earth-Moon
The Lunar Month and the Librations
The Case Planet Plus Planet
The Restricted Circular Three-Body Problem
A Nonspherical Body Plus a Small Nearby Satellite
Other Interesting Cases
Notes
Exercise

ECLIPSES AND OCCULTATIONS
Moon's Phases
Conditions for the Occurrence of an Eclipse
Solar Eclipses
Lunar Eclipses
Besselian Elements and Magnitude of the Eclipse
Number and Repetitions of Eclipses
Stellar Occultations
Notes
Exercises

ELEMENTS OF ASTRONOMICAL PHOTOMETRY
Visual Magnitudes
Extension of the Definition of Magnitude
Extinction by the Earth's Atmosphere
The Black Body
Color Indices and Two-Color Diagrams
Calibration of the Apparent Magnitudes in Physical Units
Apparent Diameters and Absolute Magnitudes of the Stars
The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
Interstellar Absorption
Extension to the Bodies of the Solar System
Radiation Quantities
Notes
Exercises

ELEMENTS OF ASTRONOMICAL SPECTROSCOPY
Spectroscopic Techniques
The Analysis of the Spectral Lines
Detailed Balance and the Boltzmann Equation
The Saha Equation
Criteria of Spectral Classification of Stars
The Harvard and the MK Classification Schemes
Low Temperature Stars
Peculiarities
Relationship between the MK Classification and Photometric Parameters
Notes
Bibliography
Index