https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1292022930/r...8ub1W7BJSV

So this is the book that I just had delivered, slightly overwhelmed by the content but apparantly well liked study material for the subject.

Anyone have any experience with this book?

I am getting a copy of that

Good. We can compare notes. I've spent a few hours with it, just working through Keplers laws right now when time permits. I like the writing style so far and the questions are varied and stimulating. Bear in mind I'm only on page 30ish out of 1400 though!
I 'had' to buy a brand new TI nspire CAS calculator as my old Casio grapher LCD was proving very difficult to read in low light.

Let me know when you get started.

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Here's the contents list to entice you;

Part I The Tools of Astronomy 1
Chapter 1 The Celestial Sphere 2
1.1 The Greek Tradition 2
1.2 The Copernican Revolution 5
1.3 Positions on the Celestial Sphere 8
1.4 Physics and Astronomy 19
Chapter 2 Celestial Mechanics 23
2.1 Elliptical Orbits 23
2.3 Kepler's Laws Derived 39
2.4 The Virial Theorem 50
Chapter 3 The Continuous Spectrum of Light 57
3.1 Stellar Parallax 57
3.2 The Magnitude Scale 60
3.3 The Wave Nature of Light 63
3.4 Blackbody Radiation 68
3.5 The Quantization of Energy 71
3.6 The Color Index 75
Chapter 4 The Theory of Special Relativity 84
4.1 The Failure of the Galilean Transformations 84
4.2 The Lorentz Transformations 87
4.3 Time and Space in Special Relativity 92
4.4 Relativistic Momentum and Energy 102
Chapter 5 The Interaction of Light and Matter 111
5.1 Spectral Lines 111
5.2 Photons 116
5.3 The Bohr Model of the Atom 119
5.4 Quantum Mechanics and Wave--Particle Duality 127
Chapter 6 Telescopes 141
6.1 Basic Optics 141
6.2 Optical Telescopes 154
6.3 Radio Telescopes 161
6.4 Infrared, Ultraviolet, X-ray, and Gamma-Ray Astronomy 167
6.5 All-Sky Surveys and Virtual Observatories 170
Part II The Nature of Stars 179
Chapter 7 Binary Systems and Stellar Parameters 180
7.1 The Classification of Binary Stars 180
7.2 Mass Determination Using Visual Binaries 183
7.3 Eclipsing, Spectroscopic Binaries 186
7.4 The Search for Extrasolar Planets 195
Chapter 8 The Classification of Stellar Spectra 202
8.1 The Formation of Spectral Lines 202
8.2 The Hertzsprung--Russell Diagram 219
Chapter 9 Stellar Atmospheres 231
9.1 The Description of the Radiation Field 231
9.2 Stellar Opacity 238
9.3 Radiative Transfer 251
9.4 The Transfer Equation 255
9.5 The Profiles of Spectral Lines 267
Chapter 10 The Interiors of Stars 285
10.1 Hydrostatic Equilibrium 285
10.2 Pressure Equation of State 289
10.3 Stellar Energy Sources 297
10.4 Energy Transport and Thermodynamics 316
10.5 Stellar Model Building 330
10.6 The Main Sequence 341
Chapter 11 The Sun 350
11.1 The Solar Interior 350
11.2 The Solar Atmosphere 361
11.3 The Solar Cycle 382
Chapter 12 The Interstellar Medium and Star Formation 399
12.1 Interstellar Dust and Gas 399
12.2 The Formation of Protostars 413
12.3 Pre-Main-Sequence Evolution 425
Chapter 13 Main Sequence and Post-Main-Sequence Stellar Evolution 448
13.1 Evolution on the Main Sequence 448
13.2 Late Stages of Stellar Evolution 459
13.3 Stellar Clusters 476
Chapter 14 Stellar Pulsation 485
14.1 Observations of Pulsating Stars 485
14.2 The Physics of Stellar Pulsation 493
14.3 Modeling Stellar Pulsation 501
14.4 Nonradial Stellar Pulsation 505
14.5 Helioseismology and Asteroseismology 511
Chapter 15 The Fate of Massive Stars 520
15.1 Post-Main-Sequence Evolution of Massive Stars 520
15.2 The Classification of Supernovae 526
15.3 Core-Collapse Supernovae 531
15.4 Gamma-Ray Bursts 545
15.5 Cosmic Rays 551
Chapter 16 The Degenerate Remnants of Stars 560
16.1 The Discovery of Sirius B 560
16.2 White Dwarfs 562
16.3 The Physics of Degenerate Matter 565
16.4 The Chandrasekhar Limit 572
16.5 The Cooling of White Dwarfs 575
16.6 Neutron Stars 580
16.7 Pulsars 589
Chapter 17 General Relativity and Black Holes 614
17.1 The General Theory of Relativity 614
17.2 Intervals and Geodesics 627
17.3 Black Holes 638
Chapter 18 Close Binary Star Systems 659
18.1 Gravity in a Close Binary Star System 659
18.2 Accretion Disks 667
18.3 A Survey of Interacting Binary Systems 674
18.4 White Dwarfs in Semidetached Binaries 679
18.5 Type Ia Supernovae 692
18.6 Neutron Stars and Black Holes in Binaries 695
Part III The Solar System 720
Chapter 19 Physical Processes in the Solar System 721
19.1 A Brief Survey 721
19.2 Tidal Forces 726
19.3 The Physics of Atmospheres 731
Chapter 20 The Terrestrial Planets 744
20.1 Mercury 744
20.2 Venus 747
20.3 Earth 753
20.4 The Moon 761
20.5 Mars 769
Chapter 21 The Realms of the Giant Planets 782
21.1 The Giant Worlds 782
21.2 The Moons of the Giants 798
21.3 Planetary Ring Systems 809
Chapter 22 Minor Bodies of the Solar System 821
22.1 Pluto and Charon 821
22.2 Comets and Kuiper Belt Objects 825
22.3 Asteroids 838
22.4 Meteorites 847
Chapter 23 Formation of Planetary Systems 857
23.1 Characteristics of Extrasolar Planetary Systems 857
23.2 Planetary System Formation and Evolution 866
Part IV Galaxies and the Universe 883
Chapter 24 The Milky Way Galaxy 885
24.1 Counting the Stars in the Sky 885
24.2 The Morphology of the Galaxy 892
24.3 The Kinematics of the Milky Way 910
24.4 The Galactic Center 934
Chapter 25 The Nature of Galaxies 953
25.1 The Hubble Sequence 953
25.2 Spirals and Irregular Galaxies 962
25.3 Spiral Structure 977
25.4 Elliptical Galaxies 997
Chapter 26 Galactic Evolution 1013
26.1 Interactions of Galaxies 1013
26.2 The Formation of Galaxies 1030
Chapter 27 The Structure of the Universe 1052
27.1 The Extragalactic Distance Scale 1052
27.2 The Expansion of the Universe 1066
27.3 Clusters of Galaxies 1072
Chapter 28 Active Galaxies 1099
28.1 Observations of Active Galaxies 1099
28.2 A Unified Model of Active Galactic Nuclei 1121
28.3 Radio Lobes and Jets 1137
28.4 Using Quasars to Probe the Universe 1145
Chapter 29 Cosmology 1160
29.1 Newtonian Cosmology 1160
29.2 The Cosmic Microwave Background 1179
29.3 Relativistic Cosmology 1199
29.4 Observational Cosmology 1215
Chapter 30 The Early Universe 1248
30.1 The Very Early Universe and Inflation 1248
30.2 The Origin of Structure 1265
Appendix A Astronomical and Physical Constants 1296
Appendix B Unit Conversions 1299
Appendix C Solar System Data 1301
Appendix D The Constellations 1303
Appendix E The Brightest Stars 1305
Appendix F The Nearest Stars 1307
Appendix G Stellar Data 1309
Appendix H The Messier Catalog 1314
Appendix I Constants, A Programming Module 1317
Appendix J Orbit, A Planetary Orbit Code 1318
Appendix K TwoStars, A Binary Star Code 1319
Appendix L StatStar, A Stellar Structure Code 1325
Appendix M Galaxy, A Tidal Interaction Code 1329
Appendix N WMAP Data 1332
Index 1349

I have it... yes it covers a lot of ground, it's far from a basic introduction.

(March 3, 2015 at 11:22 am)Alex K Wrote: I have it... yes it covers a lot of ground, it's far from a basic introduction.

Have you finished your study or still ongoing?

I have an engineering degree but for now I'm content to study astropysics for my own interest and see how I take to it before considering a course.

(March 3, 2015 at 11:47 am)TubbyTubby Wrote:

(March 3, 2015 at 11:22 am)Alex K Wrote: I have it... yes it covers a lot of ground, it's far from a basic introduction.

Have you finished your study or still ongoing?

I have an engineering degree but for now I'm content to study astropysics for my own interest and see how I take to it before considering a course.

I have a PhD in theoretical particle physics, but I was in a Graduate School for Astro- and Particle physics, so I "had to" take some intro astrophysics and cosmology classes as well. My specialty is particle physics though, and the astrophysics is more on the sidelines.

(March 3, 2015 at 11:51 am)Alex K Wrote:

(March 3, 2015 at 11:47 am)TubbyTubby Wrote: Have you finished your study or still ongoing?

I have an engineering degree but for now I'm content to study astropysics for my own interest and see how I take to it before considering a course.

I have a PhD in theoretical particle physics, but I was in a Graduate School for Astro- and Particle physics, so I "had to" take some intro astrophysics and cosmology classes as well. My specialty is particle physics though, and the astrophysics is more on the sidelines.

I have somewhat of a desire to learn more about stellar formation and death so my plan is to work through as much of the book as I can manage and then decide whether I want to continue with a particular topic.

Having said that, I may well find other areas that interest me more so who knows. Wish I'd done it earlier but astrophysics never really came up in my school careers talks. I'm just a bit jealous of folks that have a job in these fields. Makes electrical engineering seem very dull.

(March 3, 2015 at 2:39 pm)TubbyTubby Wrote: Having said that, I may well find other areas that interest me more so who knows. Wish I'd done it earlier but astrophysics never really came up in my school careers talks. I'm just a bit jealous of folks that have a job in these fields. Makes electrical engineering seem very dull.

Well, have a stab at it, it can't hurt to check out whether you like it! If you have an engineering degree, you should know the necessary maths as well, at least for getting into it a bit.

To be fair though, I think electrical engineering is pretty interesting as well, almost any research topic can appear very dull when one views it up-close from the perspective of a "practitioner" who needs to get into the boring tedious details. In reality, doing research in star formation probably also involves weeks of debugging horrible code, for example. Everything always does But at least it's code for star formation!

I read 'Stardust' by John Gribbin (recommended) which really sparked my interest. Stellar birth is the fundamental physical process that creates all life - that's what draws me to it.

Stars are my gods!

You know that Lawrence Krauss quote...

"So, forget Jesus. The stars died so that you could be here today."