An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics is a comprehensive, well-organized and engaging text covering every major area of modern astrophysics, from the solar system and stellar astronomy to galactic and extragalactic astrophysics, and cosmology. Designed to provide students with a working knowledge of modern astrophysics, this textbook is suitable for astronomy and physics majors who have had a first-year introductory physics course with calculus. Featuring a brief summary of the main scientific discoveries that have led to our current understanding of the universe; worked examples to facilitate the understanding of the concepts presented in the book; end-of-chapter problems to practice the skills acquired; and computational exercises to numerically model astronomical systems, the second edition of An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics is the go-to textbook for learning the core astrophysics curriculum as well as the many advances in the field.

Table of Contents

Part I. The Tools of Astronomy

1. The Celestial Sphere

2. Celestial Mechanics

3. The Continuous Spectrum of Light

4. The Theory of Special Relativity

5. The Interaction of Light and Matter

6. Telescopes

Part II. The Nature of Stars

7. Binary Systems and Stellar Parameters

8. The Classification of Stellar Spectra

9. Stellar Atmospheres

10. The Interiors of Stars

11. The Sun

12. The Interstellar Medium and Star Formation

13. Main Sequence and Post-Main-Sequence Stellar Evolution

14. Stellar Pulsation

15. The Fate of Massive Stars

16. The Degenerate Remnants of Stars

17. General Relativity and Black Holes

18. Close Binary Star Systems

Part III. The Solar System

19. Physical Processes in the Solar System

20. The Terrestrial Planets

21. The Realms of the Giant Planets

22. Minor Bodies of the Solar System

23. Formation of Planetary Systems

Part IV. Galaxies and the Universe

24. The Milky Way Galaxy

25. The Nature of Galaxies

26. Galactic Evolution

27. The Structure of the Universe

28. Active Galaxies

29. Cosmology

30. The Early Universe

Appendix C. Solar System Data

Appendix D. The Constellations

Appendix E. The Brightest Stars

Appendix F. The Nearest Stars

Appendix G. Stellar Data

Appendix H. The Messier Catalog

Appendix I. Constants, A Programming Module

Appendix J. Orbit, A Planetary Orbit Code

Appendix K. TwoStars, A Binary Star Code

Appendix L. StatStar, A Stellar Structure Code

Appendix M. Galaxy, A Tidal Interaction Code

Appendix N. WMAP Data

About the Authors

Bradley W. Carroll received his B.A. in Mathematics and a Secondary Teaching Credential from the University of California, Irvine, his M.S. in Physics from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and his Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He then accepted a postdoc with Hugh Van Horn at the University of Rochester and, four years later, accepted a position in the Physics Department at Weber State University, where he served as the Physics Department chair for ten years. He retired in 2015 after thirty years at Weber State University, Utah. During this time, he was awarded the Lowe Innovative Teaching Award and named a WSU Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor. He is an emeritus member of the American Astronomical Society.

Dale A. Ostlie received his B.A. from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota with degrees in Physics and Mathematics, and his Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Iowa State University. After a two-year teaching position at Bates College in Maine, he moved to Weber State University (WSU), where he worked for thrity years, retiring in 2014. At WSU Dale served as Chair of the Department of Physics for seven years and Dean of the College of Science for eight years. He also served as a collaborator at Los Alamos National Laboratory and worked as an early consultant at the Space Telescope Science Institute. In addition, he has authored or co-authored numerous papers in stellar pulsation theory. While at WSU, Dale was awarded the Lowe Innovative Teaching Award and the Exemplary Collaboration Award. He is a member of the American Astronomical Society.