This book discusses the methods used in helio- and asteroseismology for the collection, analysis and interpretation of data. It is the first comprehensive discussion of helioseismic and asteroseismic methodology, collecting techniques from over 300 research papers spread out over decades, with a critical discussion and inter-comparison. It enables the reader to follow the path of inference from the collection of the data at the telescope through to the understanding gained in terms of the modeling of solar and stellar physics and stellar evolution.By focusing on how results are obtained, rather than on the results themselves, this book provides the essential background needed to understand this field, which is rapidly advancing due to the availability of modern observing facilities both on the ground and in space. The material is accessible for advanced undergraduates and post-graduates, and provides an essential resource for researchers in the field./a

This collection of papers offers a timely snapshot of helio- and asteroseismology in the era when SOHO/MDI instrument is about to be replaced by SDO/HMI and when the CoRoT space mission is yielding its first long-duration light curves of thousands of stars.

Helio- and asteroseismology study the interior of the Sun and other stars, by means of observations of oscillations on their surfaces. The last 10 years in the study of the solar interior, to a has witnessed a very rapid evolution point where we can now contemplate investigating the physical state of matter, or the details of rotation and other large-scale motion, in the Sun. The stellar studies are in some respects at the point of the solar studies 10 years ago, but appear poised to take off. Thus the time was deemed ripe for lAO Symposium No 123, to assess the present status of this work, and plan for its future development. Apart from the seismic data, few observations are available to provide information about stellar interiors. Detailed studies, by spectral analysis, can be made of stellar surface properties, including atmospheric temperature and chemical composition. However, the stellar radiative spectrum is almost entirely fixed by the mass, luminosity, radius and surface rotation of the star, and contains essentially no other information about the interior. An important test of stellar evolution theory is provided by observations of stel lar clusters, whose members can reasonably be assumed to have the same age and chemical composition. The location of such stars in a HR diagram, where luminosity is plotted against the effective temperature, can roughly be understood in terms of stellar evolution calculations.

The invited reviews are intended to be accessible to people who know little or nothing about the techniques or what they reveal about the internal structure and dynamics of stars, including our Sun; most of the some 120 offerings however are contributed short posters, so neophytes are on their own. The sections cover the global structure and evolution of the solar and stellar interiors, solar convection and variation in irradiance, the large-scale and small-scale structure of the Sun, astroseismology, and the solar atmosphere. Among the topics of invited papers are reducing helioseismic data, inversion methods, local properties of the Sun's seismic events, the seismology of the ZZ Ceti stars, new observations of pulsations of OB stars, and the new chromosphere. A synthesis and summary of the meeting concludes the collection. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Our understanding of stars has grown significantly due to recent advances in asteroseismology, the stellar analog of helioseismology, the study of the Sun's acoustic wave oscillations. Using ground-based and satellite observatories to measure the frequency spectra of starlight, researchers are able to probe beneath a star's surface and map its interior structure. This volume provides a wide-ranging and up-to-date overview of the theoretical, experimental and analytical tools for carrying out front-line research in stellar physics using asteroseismological observations, tools and inferences. Chapters from seven eminent scientists in residence at the twenty-second Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics examine the interior of our Sun relative to data collected from distant stars, how to measure the fundamental parameters of single field stars, diffusion processes, and the effects of rotation on stellar structures. The volume also provides detailed treatments of modeling and computing programs, providing astronomers and graduate students a practical, methods-based guide.

Studies of stars and stellar populations, and the discovery and characterization of exoplanets, are being revolutionized by new satellite and telescope observations of unprecedented quality and scope. Some of the most significant advances have been in the field of asteroseismology, the study of stars by observation of their oscillations. Asteroseismic Data Analysis gives a comprehensive technical introduction to this discipline. This book not only helps students and researchers learn about asteroseismology; it also serves as an essential instruction manual for those entering the field. The book presents readers with the foundational techniques used in the analysis and interpretation of asteroseismic data on cool stars that show solar-like oscillations. The techniques have been refined, and in some cases developed, to analyze asteroseismic data collected by the NASA Kepler mission. Topics range from the analysis of time-series observations to extract seismic data for stars to the use of those data to determine global and internal properties of the stars. Reading lists and problem sets are provided, and data necessary for the problem sets are available online. The first book to describe in detail the different techniques used to analyze the data on stellar oscillations, Asteroseismic Data Analysis offers an invaluable window into the hearts of stars. Introduces the asteroseismic study of stars and the theory of stellar oscillations Describes the analysis of observational (time-domain) data Examines how seismic parameters are extracted from observations Explores how stellar properties are determined from seismic data Looks at the “inverse problem,” where frequencies are used to infer internal structures of stars