Nebulae

This book enables anyone with suitable instruments to undertake an examination of nebulae and see or photograph them in detail. Nebulae, ethereal clouds of gas and dust, are among the most beautiful o

Describes how nebulae are formed and their different types, with details on some of the well-known nebulae which have been seen through the Hubble Telescope.

In view of the current and forthcoming observational data on pulsar wind nebulae, this book offers an assessment of the theoretical state of the art of modelling them. The expert authors also review t

Planetary Nebulae and How to Observe Them is for amateur astronomers who want to go beyond the Messier objects, concentrating on one of the most beautiful classes of astronomical objects in the sky.Pl

There are 'voids' obscuring all kinds of objects in the cosmos. Voids may be within an object, or between an object and us. Dark Nebulae, Dark Lanes, and Dust Lanes looks out into the deep sky at thos

This book, first published in 1991, tells the story of how astronomy and physics work together to unravel many mysteries of stars and nebulae. Stress is laid on a non-technical description of how an understanding of these objects is obtained, not on just a mere review of facts. After a succinct, non-mathematical excursion into the principles of radiation and atomic structure, the text explains in simple terms the physical processes at work in stars and gaseous nebulae. A survey of masses, dimensions, luminosities, temperatures and chemical composition of stars is followed by an exploration of their interiors and how stars generate energy. An account of the exciting new field of high energy astronomy and the origin of cosmic rays is given at the end of the book. This is the ideal introduction for physics and astronomy students to the important field of modern astronomics. It should also appeal to amateur astronomers and the reader interested in the life history of a star.

This book, first published in 1991, tells the story of how astronomy and physics work together to unravel many mysteries of stars and nebulae. Stress is laid on a non-technical description of how an understanding of these objects is obtained, not on just a mere review of facts. After a succinct, non-mathematical excursion into the principles of radiation and atomic structure, the text explains in simple terms the physical processes at work in stars and gaseous nebulae. A survey of masses, dimensions, luminosities, temperatures and chemical composition of stars is followed by an exploration of their interiors and how stars generate energy. An account of the exciting new field of high energy astronomy and the origin of cosmic rays is given at the end of the book. This is the ideal introduction for physics and astronomy students to the important field of modern astronomics. It should also appeal to amateur astronomers and the reader interested in the life history of a star.

Charles Messier's catalogue of nebulae and star clusters, published in 1784, marked the start of a new era of deep sky astronomy. This tradition of observing galaxies and clusters is kept alive by serious amateur astronomers who study the objects of the deep sky. Nearly all the objects are visible in a small telescope. Many, such as the Crab Nebula and the Andromeda galaxy, are among the most fascinating objects in the universe. Kenneth Glyn Jones has revised his definitive version of Messier's catalogue. His own observations and drawings, together with maps and diagrams, make this a valuable introduction to deep sky observing. Historical and astrophysical notes bring the science of these nebulae to the fore. This is a unique handbook, unlikely ever to be equalled in its completeness and importance to the telescope owner.

This book presents an up-to-date detailed description and categorisation of the large range of astronomical objects that fall under the general heading of nebulae, and then instructs the reader in th

Edwin Hubble: Mariner of the Nebulae is both the biography of an extraordinary human being and the story of the greatest quest in the history of astronomy since the Copernican revolution. The book is

Planetary nebulae play a key role in stellar evolution as an important fraction of stellar matter in the Universe goes through the asymptotic giant branch and planetary nebula phases in its lifetime. They are major contributors to the chemical enrichment of the galaxies, especially for nitrogen and carbon. They also act as multi-wavelength laboratories for understanding atomic, molecular, dust and plasma processes in different astrophysical environments, and for studying the dynamics and mass distributions of galaxies. IAU Symposium 283 brought together experts from a variety of countries to present new results including: those from IPHAS and HERSCHEL; the detection of fullerenes in our galaxy and its neighbors; a new catalogue of about 600 planetary nebulae spectra; and the latest three-dimensional models of the common envelope phase. This volume is an essential reference for all those specializing in planetary nebulae.

This authoritative volume provides a comprehensive review of the origin and evolution of planetary nebulae. It covers all the stages of their evolution, carefully synthesizes observations from across the spectrum, and clearly explains all the key physical processes at work. Particular emphasis is placed on observations from space, using the Hubble Space Telescope, the Infrared Space Observatory, and the ROSAT satellite. This book presents a thoroughly modern understanding of planetary nebulae, integrating developments in stellar physics with the dynamics of nebular evolution. It also describes exciting possibilities such as the use of planetary nebulae in determining the cosmic distance scale, the distribution of dark matter and the chemical evolution of galaxies. This book provides graduate students with an accessible introduction to planetary nebulae, and researchers with an authoritative reference. It can also be used as an advanced text on the physics of the interstellar medium.

In less than a century, the accepted picture of the universe transformed from a stagnant place, composed entirely of our own Milky Way galaxy, to a realm inhabited by billions of individual galaxies,

A geologist and fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, Isaac Roberts (1829–1904) made significant contributions to the photography of star-clusters and nebulae. By championing reflecting rather than refracting telescopes, Roberts was able to perceive previously unnoticed star-clusters, and was the first to identify the spiral shape of the Great Andromeda Nebula. Roberts' use of a telescope for photographing stars, and a long exposure time, provided greater definition of stellar phenomena than previously used hand-drawings. Although Roberts' conclusions about the nature of the nebulae he photographed were not always correct, the book is significant for the possibilities it suggests for nebular photography. Published in London in 1893 and 1899, the two-volume Photographs of Stars represents the summation of his work with his assistant W. S. Franks at his observatory in Crowborough, Sussex. Volume 1 contains 51 collotype plates of stars, and descriptions of his instruments and methods.

Planetary nebulae represent the brief transition between Asymptotic Giant Branch stars and White Dwarfs. As multi-wavelength laboratories they have played a key role in developing our understanding of atomic, molecular, dust and plasma processes in astrophysical environments. The means by which their wonderfully diverse morphologies are obtained is currently the subject of intense research, including hydrodynamical shaping mechanisms and the role of binarity, stellar magnetic fields and rotation. Their contribution to the chemical enrichment of galaxies is another very active research area, as is the ever growing use of their narrow high luminosity emission lines to probe the dynamics and mass distributions of galaxies and the intergalactic media of clusters of galaxies. IAU S234 summarises the current status of research on the properties and processes of planetary nebulae, as reported in reviews and papers by leading experts working in the field.

Today we are all familiar with the iconic pictures of the nebulae produced by the Hubble Space Telescope’s digital cameras. But there was a time, before the successful application of photography to th

This update of the 1989 textbook by Osterbrock (emeritus, astrophysics, Lick Observatory, U. of California, Santa Cruz) adds Ferland (physics and astronomy, U. of Kentucky) as coauthor and new data in

In 1923 Edwin Hubble confirmed the existence of other galaxies. By the end of the decade, he proved that the universe is expanding, thus laying the very cornerstone of the big bang theory. A revealing

A geologist and fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, Isaac Roberts (1829–1904) made significant contributions to the photography of star-clusters and nebulae. By championing reflecting rather than refracting telescopes, Roberts was able to perceive previously unnoticed star-clusters, and was the first person to identify the spiral shape of the Great Andromeda Nebula. Roberts' use of telescopes for photographing stars provided greater definition of stellar phenomena than previously used hand-drawings. Although Roberts' conclusions about the nature of the nebulae he photographed were not always correct, and sometimes misinterpreted by others, the book is significant for the possibilities it suggests for nebular photography. Published in 1893 and 1899, these volumes represent the summation of his work with his assistant W. S. Franks at his observatory in Crowborough, Sussex. Lavishly illustrated, the books contain descriptions of instruments and methodology, and Roberts' theory of th

At the end of a star's life, it wraps itself in a cocoon by spilling out gas and dust; later, a butterfly emerges and develops into a planetary nebula. This book, illustrated in colour throughout, tel

A rare look at the southern skies' greatest glories. The celestial objects of the Southern Hemisphere are fascinating to astronomers everywhere. The southern stars, nebulae, and galaxies have exot

The New General Catalogue (NCG), originally created in 1888, is the source for referencing bright nebulae and star clusters, both in professional and amateur astronomy. With 7840 entries, it is the most-used historical catalogue of observational astronomy, and NGC numbers are commonly used today. However, the fascinating history of the discovery, observation, description and cataloguing of nebulae and star clusters in the nineteenth century has largely gone untold, until now. This well-researched book is the first comprehensive historical study of the NGC, and is an important resource to all those with an interest in the history of modern astronomy and visual deep-sky observing. It covers the people, observatories, instruments and methods involved in nineteenth-century visual deep-sky observing, as well as prominent deep-sky objects. The book also compares the NGC to modern object data, demonstrating how important the NGC is in observational astronomy today.

Planetary nebulae, glowing shells of ionized gas, are the spectacular products of the evolution of low- and intermediate-mass stars. For astrophysicists, they are important laboratories for the understanding of atomic, molecular, dust, and plasma processes in different cosmic environments; they enable the exploration of the fundamental physics of single and binary star evolution including nucleosynthesis, rotation, mass transfer and loss, and magnetic fields; and they help trace stellar populations, the kinematics, and chemistry of galaxies including our own galaxy, the Milky Way. This volume reviews the current status of this vibrant research field in the form of invited reviews, contributed talks, and posters presented at the IAU Symposium 323. It should be of interest to researchers and advanced students interested in this field and in related fields, including stellar physics, the interstellar medium, and Galactic and extragalactic astronomy.