Science : Astronomy

This volume contains the edited lecture notes of the Second JETSET School on Jets from Young Stars: Clues from High Angular Resolution Observations organised by the Marie Curie Research Training Network JETSET: Jet Simulations, Experiments and Theory. After the opening two chapters on jet emission, readers can learn the fundamental background of modern high-spatial-resolution techniques, and how such methods have impacted on our understanding of young stars. The lectures provide hands-on insight into Observing from space, e.g. from HST and in the future JWST, and from the ground with adaptive optics, The use of interferometers at millimetre and infrared wavelengths, Spectro-astrometry, Image analysis and spectral diagnostic techniques, High-Angular Resolution studies of the inner regions of circumstellar disks which play a fundamental role in jet launching. The books' practical approach makes it an outstanding and extremely useful textbook for PhD students and young researchers in astronomy. more...

Price: $79.95

Set against the backdrop of the witchcraft trial of his mother, this lively biography of Johannes Kepler – 'the Protestant Galileo' and 16th century mathematician and astronomer – reveals the surprisingly spiritual nature of the quest of early modern science. In the style of Dava Sobel's Galileo's Daughter , Connor's book brings to life the tidal forces of Reformation, Counter–Reformation, and social upheaval. Johannes Kepler, who discovered the three basic laws of planetary motion, was persecuted for his support of the Copernican system. After a neighbour accused his mother of witchcraft, Kepler quit his post as the Imperial mathematician to defend her. James Connor tells Kepler's story as a pilgrimage, a spiritual journey into the modern world through war and disease and terrible injustice, a journey reflected in the evolution of Kepler's geometrical model of the cosmos into a musical model, harmony into greater harmony. The leitmotif of the witch trial adds a third dimension to Kepler's biography by setting his personal life within his own times. The acts of this trial, including Kepler's letters and the accounts of the witnesses, although published in their original German dialects, had never before been translated into English. Echoing some of Dava Sobel's work for Galileo's Daughter , Connor has translated the witch trial documents into English. With a great respect for the history of these times and the life of this man, Connor's accessible story illuminates the life of Kepler, the man of science, but also Kepler, a man of uncommon faith and vision. more...

Price: $11.95

In meno di due decenni lastronomia amatoriale ha cambiato volto. Il motivo, naturalmente, il progresso tecnologico. Telescopi economici, ma di alta qualit, montature "go-to" controllate dal computer, autoguide, camere CCD, videocamere e (come sempre) computer e Internet sono soltanto alcuni degli elementi che hanno rivoluzionato lastronomia del XXI secolo. Non solo hanno reso lastronomia amatoriale pi "amichevole" e divertente, ma hanno anche ampliato enormemente le potenzialit dellastrofilo. Martin Mobberley dapprima affronta le tematiche di base per poi analizzare in modo approfondito quali sono gli strumenti disponibili sul mercato. Da qui prende le mosse per passare in rassegna le rivoluzionarie possibilit che si aprono per gli astrofili, dalla ripresa di immagini, alla spettroscopia, alla fotometria, alla sorveglianza degli oggetti Near-Earth comete e asteroidi che possono avvicinarsi pericolosamente alla Terra. Lastrofilo moderno una valida guida alla nuova astronomia. Sia il neofita che chiede di essere introdotto in questo campo, sia lastrofilo esperto che voglia tenersi al passo delle innovazioni troveranno in questo libro ci che fa per loro. more...

Price: $39.95

Landscapes of Mars is essentially a picture book that provides a visual tour of Mars. All the major regions and topographical features will be shown and supplemented with chapter introductions and extended captions. In a way, think of it as a visual tourist guide. Other topics covered are Martian uplands on the order of the elevation of Mt. Everest, Giant volcanoes and a rift system, the Grand Canyon of Mars, craters and the absence of craters over large regions (erosion), and wind shadows around craters, sand dunes, and dust devils. The book includes discussions on the search for water (braided channels, seepage, sedimentary layering, etc.) as well as on the Viking mission search for life, Mars meteorite fossil bacteria controversy, and planetary protection in future missions. The book concludes with an exciting gallery of the best 3D images of Mars making the book a perfect tool for understanding Mars and its place in the solar system. more...

Price: $39.95

Many lights and other objects in the sky go unrecognised, or at least are little understood by those observing them. And there is still a residuum of objects that remain unidentified by the watcher - classed generally as 'UFOs'. This title presents an identification guide, very much like the "plant identifier" sections found in a good botany book. more...

Price: $29.95