Synopses & Reviews
'Supernovae!: Blasts from the Frontier of Astronomy' examines the most recent and exciting discoveries about what happens at the end of the stellar evolution of a massive stars. This book focuses on the extreme - the most intense and brilliant of astronomical explosions. It features the discoveries of SN 2007bi, a pair-instability supernova and SN 2006gy, a pulsational-pair instability supernova, or hypernova. These are highly significant observational finds that push the frontiers of astronomy and astrophysics, particularly as these objects were hitherto only predicted in theory and previously thought to be relics of the early universe, hence unobservable now. 'Supernovae!' examines and explains cataclysmic and unusual events at the very frontier of our knowledge of stellar astrophysics, and presents them in a way that non-professionals can understand and enjoy.
Synopsis
This book examines and explains cataclysmic and unusual events at the very frontier of our knowledge of stellar astrophysics, and presents them in a way that non-professionals can understand and enjoy.
Synopsis
What happens at the end of the life of massive stars? At one time we thought all these stars followed similar evolutionary paths. However, new discoveries have shown that things are not quite that simple.
This book focuses on the extreme -the most intense, brilliant and peculiar- of astronomical explosions. It features highly significant observational finds that push the frontiers of astronomy and astrophysics, particularly as before these objects were only predicted in theory.
This book is for those who want the latest information and ideas about the most dramatic and unusual explosions detected by current supernova searches. It examines and explains cataclysmic and unusual events in stellar astrophysics and presents them in a non-mathematical but highly detailed way that non-professionals can understand and enjoy.
About the Author
David Stevenson studied molecular biology at Glasgow and Cambridge Universities. After a stint in academia he became a teacher, but continued to write science articles for various publications. Despite a background in biology, his father had inspired David's interest in astronomy from an early age. This, (combined with an unhealthy interest in explosions!) has led David to research and write about the life and death of stars. He has a BSc Honors 1st Class Glasgow University; a PhD in Molecular Genetics from Cambridge University; degrees from Open University in Astronomy and Planetary Sciences (distinction), and Geophysics and Geochemistry. His peer-reviewed biological research articles from 1999-2003, include a paper on the early development of life, 'The Origin of Translation' was published in The Journal of Theoretical Biology (Elsevier Press). He has published numerous articles on the Blackwell Plant Sciences website (2002 - 2007).
Table of Contents
The Evolution of Massive Stars.- The Top of the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram.- Collapsars, Hypernovae, and Long Gamma Ray Bursts.- Quiet supernovae, and Death by Fall-Back.- Luminous Blue Variables and Supernova 'Imposters'.- Death by Magnetar.- Pulsational Pair Instability and Pair Instability Supernovae.- Luminous Blue Flashes.- Population III Stars.- The Impact of Nuclear Reactions of Massive Stars on the Present Day Universe.- Red Novae and the Enigma of V838 Monocerotis.