Astrophysical Concepts
This classic text, aimed at senior undergraduates and beginning graduate students in physics and astronomy, presents a wide range of astrophysical concepts in sufficient depth to give the reader a quantitative understanding of the subject. Emphasizing phy
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G. Börner, Garching, Germany A. Burkert, München, Germany W. B. Burton, Charlottesville, VA, USA and Leiden, The Netherlands M. A. Dopita, Canberra, Australia A. Eckart, Köln, Germany T. Encrenaz, Meudon, France B. Leibundgut, Garching, Germany J. Lequeux, Paris, France A. Maeder, Sauverny, Switzerland V. Trimble, College Park, MD, and Irvine, CA, USA
Martin Harwit
Astrophysical Concepts Fourth Edition
Martin Harwit 511 H St. SW Washington, DC 20024 USA and Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-6801 USA
Library of Congress Control Number: 2006922469 Cover picture: The galaxy Messier 51 observed at X-ray wavelengths by Andrew Wilson and Yuichi Terashima, NASA/Chandra X-ray Observatory Center (CXC), University of Maryland, USA, and Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan. This image, obtained with the Advanced Charge-Coupled-Device Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS-S) on the Chandra X-ray Observatory was processed by Andrea Prestwich and Holly Jessop. Courtesy of Harvey Tananbaum. For details see Chapter 1, page 8. ISSN 0941-7834 ISBN 10: 0-387-32943-9 ISBN 13: 978-0387-32943-7 eISBN 0-387-33228-6 Printed on acid-free paper. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Printed in the United States of America. 987654321 springer.com
Preface to the Fourth Edition
Thirty-three years have passed since the first edition of Astrophysical Concepts appeared. During this time astrophysics has undergone major revolutions. We have gained new perspectives on the Universe with the aid of powerful gamma-ray, Xray, and infrared telescopes, whose sensitivities could not have been imagined three decades earlier. We have become expert at snaring neutrinos to gain insight on nuclear processes at work in the Sun and supernovae. We have direct evidence for the existence of neutron stars and gravitational waves, and persuasive arguments for the detection of black holes on scales of individual stars as well as galactic nuclei. Primordial fluctuations, remnants from the first moments in the expansion of the Universe have revealed themselves in the faint ripples marking the microwave sky. These ripples also document the first appearance of dark matter now known to have dominated the formation and evolution of all cosmic structure. And dark energy has gradually had to be acknowledged to be the dominant factor driving th
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