Principles of Astrophysics: Using Gravity and Stellar Physics to Explore the Cosmos (Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics) 2014th Edition by Charles Keeton | (PDF) Free Download

Description

This book gives a survey of astrophysics at the advanced undergraduate level, providing a physics-centred analysis of a broad range of astronomical systems. It originates from a two-semester course sequence at Rutgers University that is meant to appeal not only to astrophysics students but also more broadly to physics and engineering students. The organisation is driven more by physics than by astronomy; in other words, topics are first developed in physics and then applied to astronomical systems that can be investigated, rather than the other way around. The first half of the book focuses on gravity. The theme in this part of the book, as well as throughout astrophysics, is using motion to investigate mass. The goal of Chapters 2-11 is to develop a progressively richer understanding of gravity as it applies to objects ranging from planets and moons to galaxies and the universe as a whole. The second half uses other aspects of physics to address one of the big questions. While “Why are we here?” lies beyond the realm of physics, a closely related question is within our reach: “How did we get here?” The goal of Chapters 12-20 is to understand the physics behind the remarkable story of how the Universe, Earth and life were formed. This book assumes familiarity with vector calculus and introductory physics (mechanics, electromagnetism, gas physics and atomic physics); however, all of the physics topics are reviewed as they come up (and vital aspects of vector calculus are reviewed in the Appendix).

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This book is divided into 2 parts: 1. Using Gravity And Motion To Measure Mass 2. Using Stellar Physics To Explore The Cosmos.Part 1 consisted of 10 chapters with the following topics: Tools of Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Gravitational One-Body Problems, Two-Body Problems (including applications to binary stars and exoplanets), Tidal Forces, 3 Body Problems, Spiral Galaxies (properties, equations of motion, dynamic motions), N-Body Problems (mainly applicable to elliptical galaxies), Gravitational Lensing, Special And General Relativity, and ends with a chapter on Relativistic And Observational Cosmology.Part 2 consisted of 9 chapters with the following topics: Planetary Atmospheres and Temperatures, Stellar Atmospheres, Nuclear Fusion, Stellar Structure, Evolution of Low-Mass and High-Mass Stars, Interstellar Gas, White Dwarfs, Neutron Stars, Cepheid Variables and Type 1a Supernova, White Dwarfs, Neutron Stars, Star and Planet Formation, and Cosmology.Things I especially liked in Part I: 1. The author’s complete description of the derivation of Kepler’s 3rd law relating the mass of the central object to the orbital period of its satellite from the fact that the satellite follows an elliptical orbit. 2. Showing how we can know and measure the mass of black holes at the center of our galaxy and in other galaxies. 3. The mathematical analysis of binary stars and the evidence and observations behind the discovery of exoplanets. 4. The mathematics of Tidal Forces. 5. How analyzing the dynamics of Spiral Galaxies leads to the idea of “dark matter”. 6. The derivation of the Virial Theorem and its use. 7. Where the formulas for gravitational lensing come from and how they can be used to determine the mass causing the lensing effect. 8. The author’s derivation of the Relativistic Doppler Effect, Gravitational Redshift, and Gravitational Time Dilation along with examples of each.Things I especially liked in Part 2: 1. How to calculate the critical temperature causing a planet’s atmosphere to escape. 2. Working with the Stefan-Boltzmann Law relating the luminosity of a star to its temperature. 3. How to find the temperature of a planet near the star it is orbiting. 4. Working with HR diagrams. 5. How to calculate the temperature required for fusion in a star based on quantum mechanics. 6. Showing the various fusion reactions pathways in stars with different temperatures and masses. 7. Analysis of white dwarfs and neutron stars. 8. Showing how both Cepheid Variables and Type 1a Supernova are used in distance measuring. 9. Analyzing gas cloud collapse in the formation of stars.Involved with all this was a no-nonsense application of mathematics to every concept. The book assumes the reader has an excellent working knowledge of calculus and differential equations. At times the mathematics becomes quite intense. I succeeded most of the time piecing the steps in the mathematics together as the author went from one equation to the next. I really enjoyed the mathematical rigor!One further observation (warning): I personally found many of the end of chapter problems to be HARD, especially toward the end of the book. Part of this might have been due to the fact I was not actually sitting in the classroom listening to the lectures, or maybe it was just me. However, I was able to do quite a few of them.One last observation: Of all the books I’ve used for self-study this book is one of the best edited books I’ve found. Small errors are far and few between. The mathematical formulas and their derivations are essentially FLAWLESS!!! I commend Dr. Keeton for a job well done!

⭐The author provides a very clear and pedagogical treatise on Astrophysics. The background needed to understand this book is one obtained from the first two years of undergraduate physics and Calculus. The author motivates the subject of each chapter with examples of astronomical phenomena. The topic covered are very comprehensive (orbits, galaxies, planetary and stellar structures, elementary general relativity and cosmology). It is very enjoyable experience to use this textbook to do a self-study about the astrophysics. I highly recommend this textbook for the beginners in Astrophysics

⭐Excellent textbook; requires a mature audience. Its up-to-date content and topic selection are most welcome forwhoever is tired of plowing through more hum-drum material before getting to the really interesting stuff. The bookdoes not pretend to offer an exhaustive coverage, but its focus on gravitation and some of the myriad phenomena thatthat observers encounter is most enlightening.Highly recommended for upper level undergraduates or as a quick reference for graduate students. The problems are wonderful.. Appendix is very helpful.

⭐My biggest complaint is that the Kindle version of the book has an index with no way to reference the indexed item; hence, the Kindle version is useless as a reference book. I hope the bibliographical material’s pointers to research papers and treatises work (haven’t tried to use them yet). Major disappointment, not sure if I should return Kindle book for the paperback.

⭐I have a Kindle version of this text on my iPad. The only negative aspect is that equations, and there are many equations, are hard to read without enlarging them. This is a typical issue for Kindle text books in physics and astronomy.Keeton has given us a fine astrophysics text book. He clearly covers the subject matter and gives occasional examples to clarify the mathematics. Knowledge of calculus and physics is essential to get the most out of this text, but his prose is sufficiently clear for a casual reader to get the drift of his arguments even if the equations are only scanned.

⭐I’m very interested in this book but need to read some sample subject content before I purchase as I do with all the books I buy. Especially one as expensive as this. The sample for this book contains no subject content, just intro and preface.

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Principles of Astrophysics: Using Gravity and Stellar Physics to Explore the Cosmos (Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics) 2014th Edition PDF Free Download
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Principles of Astrophysics: Using Gravity and Stellar Physics to Explore the Cosmos (Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics) 2014th Edition 2014 PDF Free Download
Download Principles of Astrophysics: Using Gravity and Stellar Physics to Explore the Cosmos (Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics) 2014th Edition PDF
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