Product Description

The fourth edition of Professor Kitchin's popular Astrophysical Techniques retains the earlier editions' comprehensive, clearly understandable account of the instruments and techniques used in modern astronomy and astrophysics. This fully illustrated text starts from first principles and explains each method up to the point readers can begin practical work. Many new instruments and techniques are included for the first time. Exercises with answers are used to reinforce the ideas presented. An extensive bibliography, appendices of tables of astrophysical data, and a new section on Web sites and online resources make this ideal as both a textbook and a reference.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #795053 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 493 pages

Review
Reviews of the third edition ..."a well-written, comprehensive guide to the techniques and instruments used to probe the cosmos. Useful to star gazers at all levels of expertise." - New Scientist ..." an extensive and penetrating compendium ... astronomers at any level will find this book of great value ... The book succeeds very well in bringing together, in one source, the current state of the art of detecting the universe in all its guises." - Modern Astronomer "The book is thorough and is accurately aimed at the undergraduate who likes a good long read. ... It is a superb review of the plethora of complicated physical processes" - Times Higher Educational Supplement "There are not many contemporary books which attempt to cover such a broad range as this one does . . . This book will be at its most useful in an introductory capacity and as a means for acquiring an initial general orientation." - T S Glass in MNASSA Vol. 58 Nos. 3 and 4 of the third edition ..."a well-written, comprehensive guide to the techniques and instruments used to probe the cosmos. Useful to star gazers at all levels of expertise." - New Scientist ..." an extensive and penetrating compendium ... astronomers at any level will find this book of great value ... The book succeeds very well in bringing together, in one source, the current state of the art of detecting the universe in all its guises." - Modern Astronomer "The book is thorough and is accurately aimed at the undergraduate who likes a good long read. ... It is a superb review of the plethora of complicated physical processes" - Times Higher Educational Supplement "There are not many contemporary books which attempt to cover such a broad range as thisone does . . . This book will be at its most useful in an introductory capacity and as a means for acquiring an initial general orientation." - T S Glass in MNASSA Vol. 58 Nos. 3 and 4

From the Back Cover
Providing a comprehensive and clear account of the instruments and techniques used in modern astronomy and astrophysics, the fourth edition of Astrophysical Techniques continues to offer information on all astronomical observations. Retaining the aims of earlier editions, the author unifies the concepts through lucid language and cohesive organization of the book.

Revised and updated, this book encompasses an ever-diverging array of observational techniques using the detection-imaging-ancillary instruments pattern. The first several sections emphasize the detection of radiation or other information carrier as well as the instruments and techniques used to facilitate and optimize that detection. Later chapters discuss photometers and spectroscopes in detail while also examining the techniques of astrometry, polarimetry, and magnetometry.

New to the Fourth Edition: