This introduction to basic practical tools, methods and phenomena in quantitative astronomy covers topics across a wide range of areas, from radio to gamma-ray wavelengths. Clear presentations of the topics are accompanied by diagrams and problem sets. Written for undergraduates and graduate students, the book will introduce them to the practice and study of quantitative and analytical astronomy and astrophysics.

Reviews & endorsements

“Astronomy Methods: A Physical Approach to Astronomical Observations by Hale Bradt, a professor emeritus in MIT’s physics department, is a wonderful welcome to a field in desperate need of more textbooks covering the subject.” Physics Today Online

Author

Hale Bradt, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Hale Bradt is Emeritus Professor of Physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.

Table of Contents

1. Astronomy through the centuries
2. Electromagnetic radiation
3. Co-ordinate systems and charts
4. Gravity, celestial motions, and time
5. Telescopes
6. Detectors and statistics
7. Multiple telescope interferometry
8. Point-like and extended sources
9. Properties and distances of celestial objects
10. Absorption and scattering of photons
11. Spectra of electromagnetic radiation
12. Astronomy beyond photons.