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Introduction to Stellar Structure

  • Textbook
  • © 2016

Overview

Authors:
  1. Walter J. Maciel

    1. Departamento de Astronomia, Cidade Universitaria IAG/USP, Sao Paulo, Brazil

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  • Provides a comprehensive overview on stellar structure, evolution and basic stellar properties
  • Derives main stellar structure equations and explains their various applications at different points throughout the lifetime of a star
  • Includes many problems throughout the chapters with worked out solutions

Part of the book series: Springer Praxis Books (PRAXIS)

Part of the book sub series: Astronomy and Planetary Sciences (ASTRONOMY)

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Table of contents (13 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Physical Properties of the Stars

    • Walter J. Maciel
    Pages 1-17

  3. Physical Conditions in the Stellar Interior

    • Walter J. Maciel
    Pages 19-37

  4. The Electron Gas

    • Walter J. Maciel
    Pages 39-56

  5. The Photon Gas

    • Walter J. Maciel
    Pages 57-66

  6. Adiabatic Processes in the Stellar Interior

    • Walter J. Maciel
    Pages 67-79

  7. Polytropes

    • Walter J. Maciel
    Pages 81-97

  8. Radiative Equilibrium

    • Walter J. Maciel
    Pages 99-107

  9. Opacity

    • Walter J. Maciel
    Pages 109-117

  10. Electron Conduction

    • Walter J. Maciel
    Pages 119-126

  11. Convection

    • Walter J. Maciel
    Pages 127-136

  12. Thermonuclear Reactions

    • Walter J. Maciel
    Pages 137-150

  13. Energy Production

    • Walter J. Maciel
    Pages 151-171

  14. Calculation of the Stellar Structure

    • Walter J. Maciel
    Pages 173-190

  15. Back Matter

    Pages 191-215
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Keywords

About this book

This book provides a comprehensive overview of stellar structure, evolution and basic stellar properties. It includes integrated problems within the chapters, with worked solutions. 

In the first part of this book, the author presents the basic properties of the stellar interior and describes them thoroughly, along with deriving the main stellar structure equations of temperature, density, pressure and luminosity, among others. The process and application of solving these equations is explained, as well as linking these results with actual observations. The second part of the text describes what happens to a star over time and how to determine this by solving the same equations at different points during a star’s lifetime. The fate of various stars is quite different depending on their masses and this is described in the final parts of the book. This text can be used for an upper level undergraduate course or an introductory graduate course on stellar physics.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Departamento de Astronomia, Cidade Universitaria IAG/USP, Sao Paulo, Brazil

    Walter J. Maciel

About the author

Dr. Walter J. Maciel received his Bachelors in Physics from Federal University of Minas Gerais (1970), his MSc in Astronomy from the Aeronautics Technology Institute (1973) and a PhD in Astronomy from the University of São Paulo (1977). Dr. Maciel is a full professor of astronomy at the University of São Paulo and has been at the university for over 35 years. He is the author of three books published by EdUSP, the biggest Brazilian university press. He received the Jabuti prize in 2000 for the Portuguese edition of this book; his other two books, Astrophysics of the Interstellar Medium and Hydrodynamics and Stellar Winds: An Introduction, were among the finalists in 2003 and 2006, respectively. Both of these books have been published in English with Springer.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Introduction to Stellar Structure

  • Authors: Walter J. Maciel

  • Series Title: Springer Praxis Books

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16142-6

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2016

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-16141-9Published: 25 September 2015

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-36610-4Published: 23 August 2016

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-16142-6Published: 16 September 2015

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XV, 215

  • Additional Information: Originally published as Introdução à Estrutura e Evolução Estelar, (c) Editora da Universidade de São Paulo

  • Topics: Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

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