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Cataclysmic Cosmic Events and How to Observe Them

  • Book
  • © 2009

Overview

Authors:
  1. Martin Mobberley
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  • Introduces some of the most bizarre and exciting events in the universe
  • Discusses the events themselves, and what we know of their physics
  • Enables backyard astronomers to observe these events and take part in cutting-edge science
  • Explains, in a clear style, how to contribute results to professional astronomers

Part of the book series: Astronomers' Observing Guides (OBSERVING)

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Cataclysmic Variables

    • Martin Mobberley
    Pages 1-46

  3. Novae and Recurrent Novae

    • Martin Mobberley
    Pages 47-98

  4. Solar Flares, Giant Prominences, and Flare Stars

    • Martin Mobberley
    Pages 99-120

  5. Bright Supernovae and Hypernovae

    • Martin Mobberley
    Pages 121-149

  6. Active Galaxies

    • Martin Mobberley
    Pages 151-175

  7. Gamma Ray Bursters

    • Martin Mobberley
    Pages 177-196

  8. How to Do Visual and CCD Photometry

    • Martin Mobberley
    Pages 197-227

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 229-238
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Keywords

About this book

In the Victorian era – or for non-British readers, the mid-to-late nineteenth century – amateur astronomy tended to center on Solar System objects. The Moon and planets, as well as bright comets, were the key objects of interest. The brighter variable stars were monitored, but photography was in its infancy and digital imaging lay a century in the future. Today, at the start of the twenty-first century, amateurs are better equipped than any professionals of the mid-twentieth century, let alone the nineteenth. An amateur equipped with a 30-cm telescope and a CCD camera can easily image objects below magnitude 20 and, from very dark sites, 22 or 23. Such limits would have been within the realm of the 100- and 200-inch reflectors on Mount Wilson and Mount Palomar in the 1950s, but no other observatories. However, even those telescopes took hours to reach such limits, and then the photographic plates had to be developed, fixed, and examined by eye. In the modern era digital images can be obtained in minutes and analyzed ‘on the fly’ while more images are being downloaded. Developments can be e-mailed to other interested amateurs in real time, during an observing session, so that when a cataclysmic event takes place amateurs worldwide know about it. As recently as the 1980s, even professional astronomers could only dream of such instantaneous communication and proc- sing ability.

Reviews

From the reviews:

"Martin Mobberley’s book is very attractive not only in explaining the technical detail of cataclysmic phenomena but also in the promotion of useful observing projects for amateurs to undertake. … I found the advice in the final chapter about techniques, equipment and software especially valuable. The book is a must for anyone interested in cataclysmic objects and I am sure many readers will be persuaded to enter this field for the first time having seen the successes that have been described." (Guy Hurst, Astronomy Now, May, 2009)

"Though the work is aimed at the advanced amateur astronomer, Mobberley writes in a style that should keep the interest of the average undergraduate science student. … The numerous figures (many in color) help to show the physics of cataclysmic events. … Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates and general readers." (J. R. Kraus, Choice, Vol. 46 (9), May, 2009)

About the author

Martin Mobberley has a BSc Honours degree in Electronic Engineering from Brunel University, and is a former British Astronomical Association President and Goodacre Medallist. He a prolific writer, and is the author of Astronomical Equipment for Amateurs (Springer, 1998) and The New Amateur Astronomer (Springer, 2004); Lunar & Planetary Webcam User’s Guide (Springer, 2006); Supernovae and How to Observe them (NYP), and Total Eclipses and How to Observe them (NYP). He has contributed chapters to three other Springer Practical Astronomy Series Books. He has published many papers in Astronomy Now, The Journal of the British Astronomical Association, The Astronomer, and Sky & Telescope.

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