The Observation and Analysis of Stellar Photospheres (4^th Ed., Revised edition)

This textbook describes the equipment, observational techniques, and analysis used in the investigation of stellar photospheres. Now in its fourth edition, the text has been thoroughly updated and revised to be more accessible to students. New figures have been added to illustrate key concepts, while diagrams have been redrawn and refreshed throughout. The book starts by developing the tools of analysis, and then demonstrates how they can be applied. Topics covered include radiation transfer, models of stellar photospheres, spectroscopic equipment, how to observe stellar spectra, and techniques for measuring stellar temperatures, radii, surface gravities, chemical composition, velocity fields, and rotation rates. Up-to-date results for real stars are included. Written for starting graduate students or advanced undergraduates, this textbook also includes a wealth of reference material useful to researchers. eBook formats include color imagery while print formats are greyscale only; a wide selection of the color images are available online.

Preface to the first edition; Preface to the second edition; Preface to the third edition; Preface to the fourth edition; 1. Background; 2. Fourier transforms; 3. Spectroscopic tools; 4. Light detectors; 5. Radiation terms and definitions; 6. The black body and its radiation; 7. Energy transport in stellar photospheres; 8. The continuous absorption coefficient; 9. The model photosphere; 10. Analysis of stellar continua; 11. The line absorption coefficient; 12. The measurement of spectral lines; 13. The behavior of spectral lines; 14. The measurement of stellar radii and temperatures; 15. The measurement of surface gravity; 16. The measurement of chemical composition; 17. Velocity fields in stellar photospheres; 18. Stellar rotation; Appendix A. Useful constants; Appendix B: Approximate physical parameters of stars; Appendix C. Atomic data; Appendix D. The strongest lines in the solar spectrum; Appendix E. Computation of random errors; Index.

David F. Gray is a Professor Emeritus of Astronomy at Western University, London, Ontario, Canada, where he has held positions since 1966. He was president of IAU Commission 36, on the Theory of Stellar Atmospheres 1988–1991, and served on the observing-time allocation panels of the Hubble Space Telescope and the Canada–France–Hawaii telescope. He is a member of the Canadian Astronomical Society, the International Astronomical Union, Sigma Xi Honorary Society, and the American Astronomical Society, and has served on numerous organizing committees for astronomical symposia. He was an invited lecturer at the Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics, the Catania Observatory, and the Beijing Observatory.