Optical Astronomical Spectroscopy [Hardcover]

C. R. Kitchin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1995 | ISBN-10: 075030345X | ISBN-13: 978-0750303453

Astronomy and spectroscopy are firmly linked historically, and they continue to develop together, each contributing to the growth of the other. This book is aimed at the newcomer to astronomical spectroscopy and assumes no previous specialist knowledge on the part of the reader. Starting from the physical background to spectroscopy, with clear explanation of energy levels and spectroscopic notation, the book goes on to introduce the main techniques of optical spectroscopy and the range of instrumentation that is available. The applications of spectroscopy in modern astronomy are then set out: the Solar system, stars, nebulae, the interstellar medium and galaxies are all described clearly for the reader.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Inst of Physics Pub Inc (December 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 075030345X
• ISBN-13: 978-0750303453
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #864,598 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Astronomical Spectroscopy Broadly Treated, March 22, 2008

By 

W. Watson (Nevada City, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Optical Astronomical Spectroscopy (Hardcover)

I'm providing chapter and appendix headings below. I'll let them do most of the talking about balance. The book treats a broad number of topics in fair depth. There are numerous figures, diagrams, and b/w photographs of spectra and equipment. There are 11 pages of the index. Overall the book is at a comfortable undergraduate college level, but there are times when more depth to explanations would be useful. The bibliography is quite good. The book was published in 1995, so may be somewhat incomplete in its references. Perhaps a good filler for latest methodology is the internet. Somehow I don't think it's changed a lot. A book by Tennyson on this subject was published in 2005, but I see a review says it's 200 pages. Kitchin's book checks in at a total or 272 pages. The paperback version is nicely laid out, and comfortable on the eye. My copy is about 6-7 years old, and the paper shows no deterioration.

It's unfortunate that Amazon did provide the usual index, TOC, and sample pages.

Chapters
Part 1 -- Atomic Processes, 113 pages
1. Intro to Spectroscopy
2. The Physics of Atoms and Molecules
3. Atomic Energy Levels
4. Transitions
5. Spectra of Molecules
6. Radiation in the Presence of Fields
7. Spectroscopy of Solid Materials
Part 2 -- Astro Spectroscopy Techniques, ~63 pages
8. Optical Spectroscopes
9. Specialized ... Techniques for Astronomy
10. Examples of Optical Spectroscopes
Part 3 -- Spectroscopy of Astro Sources, ~66 pages
11. Spectral Classification
12. Radial Velocities
13. Spectrophotometry
14. Stars
15. Planets and Other Minor Bodies in the Solar System
16. Nebulae and the Interstellar Medium
17. Extra Galactic Objects

Appendicies, ~20 pages
A. Conversion Formulae
B. Terms for Equivalent Electrons
C. Bibliography
D. Constants

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, July 27, 2007

By 

An Astronomer (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Optical Astronomical Spectroscopy (Hardcover)

This book is targeted at astronomers, but spends fully the first half of the book rehashing undergrad physics (in a very dull way). Next it goes into the design of spectrographs but restricts itself to such limited designs that its not very helpful.
I bought the book in order to learn about doing spectroscopy, unfortunately that section is so short and lacking in detail that its useless. The book is only of any use to someone contemplating building a spectrograph, but such a person would already be well versed beyond the book's scope.