In this highly accessible book, leading scientists from around the world give a general overview of research advances in their subject areas within the field of Astronomy. They describe some of their own cutting-edge research and give their visions of the future. Re-written in a popular and well-illustrated style, the articles are mainly derived from scholarly and authoritative papers published in special issues of the Royal SocietyOCOs Philosophical Transactions, the worldOCOs longest running scientific journal. Carefully selected by the journalOCOs editor, topics include the Big Bang creation of the universe, the formation and evolution of the stars and galaxies, cold dark matter, explosive sun-spot events, and humankindOCOs exploration of the solar system. The book conveys the excitement and enthusiasm of the authors for their work at the frontiers of astronomy. All are definitive reviews for people with a general interest in the future directions of science."

Very-high-energy astrophysics studies the most energetic photons in the sky, allowing the exploration of violent and extreme non-thermal phenomena in the Universe. Significant advances in knowledge have been made in this field using ground-based imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) as detectors, to study these physical processes in the Universe. This book reviews the progress in the field since the advent of the second generation IACTs around 2004. Going through the scientific highlights obtained by the three current instruments of this kind, H.E.S.S., MAGIC and VERITAS, operating now for more than 15 years, this book presents a state-of-the-art knowledge in four areas of modern astrophysics and cosmology, namely the origin of the cosmic rays, the physics of compact objects and their resulting relativistic outflows, gamma-ray cosmology, and the search for dark matter. Along with a detailed review of the outstanding scientific outcomes, a summary of the key technological developments that yielded the recognized success of the technique is also provided.This book is written for early-career academics in the fields of astrophysics, high energy physics and cosmology. At the same time, it can serve as a source of reference for the expert in the field.

This advanced 1998 textbook on stellar astrophysics provides a comprehensive and self-contained introduction for graduate students.

This book discusses the state of the art of the basic theoretical and observational topics related to black hole astrophysics. It covers all the main topics in this wide field, from the theory of accretion disks and formation mechanisms of jet and outflows, to their observed electromagnetic spectrum, and attempts to measure the spin of these objects. Black holes are one of the most fascinating predictions of general relativity and are currently a very hot topic in both physics and astrophysics. In the last five years there have been significant advances in our understanding of these systems, and in the next five years it should become possible to use them to test fundamental physics, in particular to predict the general relativity in the strong field regime. The book is both a reference work for researchers and a textbook for graduate students.

This 2003 book develops the basic underlying physics required for a fuller, richer understanding of the science of astrophysics and the important astronomical phenomena it describes. The cosmos manifests phenomena in which physics can appear in its most extreme, and therefore more insightful, forms. A proper understanding of phenomena like black holes, quasars and extrasolar planets requires that we understand the physics that underlies all of astrophysics. Consequently, developing astrophysical concepts from fundamental physics has the potential to achieve two goals: to derive a better understanding of astrophysical phenomena from first principles and to illuminate the physics from which the astrophysics is developed. To that end, astrophysical topics are grouped according to the relevant areas of physics. The book is ideal as a text for graduate and advanced undergraduate students as well as a reference for established researchers.

Advances in Machine Learning and Data Mining for Astronomy documents numerous successful collaborations among computer scientists, statisticians, and astronomers who illustrate the application of state-of-the-art machine learning and data mining techniques in astronomy. Due to the massive amount and complexity of data in most scientific disciplines