Astrophysics is Easy!

Astrophysics is often –with some justification – regarded as incomprehensible without the use of higher mathematics. Consequently, many amateur astronomers miss out on some of the most fascinating aspects of the subject. Astrophysics Is Easy! cuts through the difficult mathematics and explains the basics of astrophysics in accessible terms. Using nothing more than plain arithmetic and simple examples, the workings of the universe are outlined in a straightforward yet detailed and easy-to-grasp manner.

Following on the success of the first and second editions, this fully updated third edition covers the significant changes in astrophysics theories and research that have occurred in the last five years, including new material on: exomoons, exocomets and exoasteroids; Special and General Relativity; gravitational waves, their origins and detection; telescope optics; black hole astrophysics; and more.

For each topic under discussion, an observing list is included so that observers can actually see for themselves the concepts presented – stars of the spectral sequence, nebulae, galaxies, even black holes. The book also features in-text, nonmathematical questions and end-of-chapter problems – all with their accompanying solutions – to help readers discuss and digest the material.

Table of Contents:

• Tools of the Trade
• The Solar System
• Spectroscopy and the Spectral Sequence
• The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
• The Interstellar Medium and Protostars
• Star Birth
• Galactic Clusters and Stellar Associations
• The Sun, Our Nearest Star
• Binary Stars and Stellar Mass
• Life on the Main Sequence
• Star death: White Dwarfs and Planetary Nebulae
• Star Death: Supernovae and Neutron Stars
• An Interlude: Special and General Relativity
• Black Holes
• Exoplanets
• Galaxies
• Active Galaxies
• Cosmology
• The Speculative Universe

Contains in-text and end-of-chapter problems and solutions.

The author Dr. Mike Inglis was born in Wales in the UK, but lives and works in the USA, where he is Professor of Astrophysics at Suffolk County Community College, State University of New York.