Customer Reviews

Astronomical Spectroscopy: An Introduction to the Atomic and Molecular Physics of Astronomical Spectra (Imperial College Press Advanced Physics Texts)

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I have a BSci in Astronomy and have not yet attended grad school. I work for a world class observatory that uses spectroscopy of some sort in almost all of the science we do. Having only had brief overviews as an undergrad, this book was a perfect next step allowing me to gain a more thorough understanding the science that I am part of. Some prior knowledge of atomic physics is very helpful.
The problems at the end of the chapters are useful to verify understanding of the material.

It comes as a surprise to most people when they learn that rarely does a professional astronomer actually look through a telescope. Most of the time, in fact, he isn't interested in the appearance at all. What he actually wants (usually) is a spectroscopic analysis of the light coming from the object being observed.

The biggest telescope cannor resolve a star into anything but a point of light. The information contained in that point of light can tell you a lot about that star. The composition of its atmosphere, its motion, its temperature and more can all be determined by analyzing the light beam.

This book was developed for a third year undergraduate level course. It presumes that the student had a prior course in Quantum Mechanics which covered the Hydrogen Atom, but no further atomic physics or spectroscopy.

This is a good introduction to the topic but its a little thin weighing in at a little less than 200 pages. The book is very compact and written at the college level. It stresses the connection between spectra and quantum mechanics [of course]. The book would make a good college or graduate level textbook as a course in itself or an adjunct to physics or quantum mechanics.

The Table of Contents:
1. Why record spectra of Astronomical Objects
2. The nature of Spectra
3. Atomic Hydrogen
4. Complex Atoms
5. Helium Spectra
6. Alkali Atoms
7. Spectra of Nebulea
8. X-ray Spectra
9. Molecular Spectra
10. Solutions to Problems
11. Bibliography