The Origin of Stars and Planetary Systems / Edition 1

by Charles J. Lada, N.D. Kylafis

Overview

A few years after the publication of The Physics of Star Formation and Early Stellar Evolution, we received a request from the publisher for an up­ dated second edition of this popular reference book. As originally intended, the volume had proved to be a useful "text" book for graduate astronomy courses and seminars which dealt with topics related to stellar origins. The book was based on a series of lectures delivered by a distinguished group of leading researchers at a NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) held in May 1990 on the island of Crete, Greece. The primary goal of the ASI was in fact to produce a book which "would simultaneously provide a broad and systematic overview of, as well as a rigorous introduction to, the fundamental physics and astronomy at the heart of modern research in star formation and early stellar evolution. " However, by 1995 concern had arisen among those who used the text as a reference for graduate seminars and courses that the book would need to be updated to stay abreast of the discoveries and progress in this rapidly evolving field. After some discussion we concluded that a new edition of the book was warranted and that the goal of producing a new edition would be best accomplished by organizing a second ASI in Crete to review the progress in star formation research.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780792359081
Publisher:	Springer Netherlands
Publication date:	07/31/1999
Series:	Nato Science Series C: , #540
Edition description:	1999
Pages:	718
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.06(d)

Table of Contents

I. The Nature Of Molecular Clouds And Their Relation To Star Formation.- Molecular Clouds.- The Dynamical Structure and Evolution of Giant Molecular Clouds.- Physical Conditions in Nearby Molecular Clouds.- Models and Observations of the Chemistry Near Young Stellar Objects.- II. The Origin and Early Evolution of Low Mass Stars.- The Formation of Low Mass Stars: An Observational Overview.- Low-Mass Star Formation: Theory.- Bipolar Molecular Outflows.- Herbig-Haro Flows.- Magnetic Fields and Star Formation: A Theory Reaching Adulthood.- The Nature of Young Solar-Type Stars.- The Evolution of Pre-Main-Sequence Stars.- III. The Role of Clutering in Star Formation, the Origin of Massive Stars.- OB Associations.- The Role of Embedded Clusters in Star Formation.- Multiple Stellar Systems: From Binaries to Clusters.- Massive Star Formation.- Masers in Star-Forming Regions.- IV. The Physics of Circumstellar Disks and Planet Formation.- Circumstellar Disks.- Accretion Disks and Eruptive Phenomena.- The Formation of Planets.- Extrasolar Planets: Techniques, Results, and the Future.