Features

• Provides a solid introduction to astronomy, astrophysics, and modern cosmology
• Teaches how to interpret the night sky
• Includes an up-to-date description of astronomical observations
• Explains everything logically and precisely with many examples

Solutions manual available for qualifying instructors

Summary

This text starts with an introduction to the night sky and an overview of stars, their basic properties, and observations. It then discusses basic physics concepts relevant to stellar observations, such as radiation, electromagnetic spectrum, photometry, continuous and discrete spectrum, and spectral lines and their properties. The text describes instruments used for astronomical observations as well as how the radiation received is characterized and interpreted to determine the properties of stars. The author also explores how the stellar spectrum is used to classify the stars on the basis of their surface properties.