Astrometry In The Age Of The Next Generation Of Large Telescopes

State-of-the-art review of the growing field of astrometry, for researchers and graduate students.

An authoritative account of the contributions to science made by the Hipparcos satellite, for astronomers, astrophysicists and cosmologists.

Transactions XXVIA of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) provides a comprehensive and authoritative review of what has been achieved in astronomy during the years 2003 to 2005. The insightful and up-to-date reviews are written by the Presidents and Chairpersons of the IAU's different Divisions, Commissions and Working Groups and each focuses on a different subject area. Topics covered in this wide-ranging volume include: fundamental astronomy; the Sun and heliosphere; planetary systems sciences; stars; variable stars; interstellar matter; the Galactic system; galaxies and the Universe; optical and infrared techniques; radio astronomy; space and high energy astrophysics; and other IAU activities. The reviews are written at a level suitable for colleagues in the same field, but they will also be useful for students and researchers wishing to gain an overview beyond their own research area.

Recording the proceedings of the IAU XXVI General Assembly, this volume of the IAU Highlights of Astronomy covers virtually all aspects of modern astrophysics as discussed by 2400 participants from 73 countries. Notably, the common aspects of astrophysical phenomena known to exist in widely differing interstellar environments is thoroughly examined, providing fertile cross correlation from one specialisation to another. This text highlights the importance of the triennial IAU General Assemblies in bringing together the work of observers and theoreticians in widely different fields, but working towards a common goal: understanding the physics of the Universe. Together with the Proceedings of the IAU Symposia 235-240, this volume examines all of the astrophysics presented at the General Assembly.

Exoplanet research is one of the most explosive subjects in astronomy today. More than 500 exoplanets are now known, and groups world-wide are actively involved in a broad range of observational and theoretical efforts. This book ties together these many avenues of investigation - from the perspectives of observation, technology and theory - to give a comprehensive, up-to-date review of the entire field. All areas of exoplanet investigation are covered, making it a unique and valuable guide for researchers in astronomy and planetary science, including those new to the field. It treats the many different techniques now available for exoplanet detection and characterisation, the broad range of underlying physics, the overlap with related topics in solar system and Earth sciences, and the concepts underpinning future developments. It emphasises the interconnection between the various fields and provides extensive references to more in-depth treatments and reviews.

This book surveys our understanding of stars which change in brightness because they pulsate. Pulsating variable stars are keys to distance scales inside and beyond the Milky Way galaxy. They test our understanding not only of stellar pulsation theory but also of stellar structure and evolution theory. Moreover, pulsating stars are important probes of the formation and evolution of our own and neighboring galaxies. Our understanding of pulsating stars has greatly increased in recent years as large-scale surveys of pulsating stars in the Milky Way and other Local Group galaxies have provided a wealth of new observations and as space-based instruments have studied particular pulsating stars in unprecedented detail.

The Workshop “Science with the VLT in the ELT Era” held in Garching from 8th to 12th October 2007 was organised by ESO, with support from its Scienti c and Technical Committee, to provide a forum for the astronomical community to debate the long term future of ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and its interferometric mode (VLTI). In particular it was considered useful for future planning to evaluate how its science use may evolve over the next decade due to competition and/or synergy with new facilities such as ALMA, JWST and, hopefully, at least one next generation 30–40 m extremely large telescope whose acronym appears in the title to symbolise this wider context. These discussions were also held in the fresh light of the Science Vision recently developed within ASTRONET as the rst step towards a 20 year plan for implementing astronomical facilities—the rst such attempt within Europe. Speci c ideas and proposals for new, second generation VLT/I instruments were also solicited following a tradition set by several earlier Workshops held since the start of the VLT development. The programme consisted of invited talks and reviews and contributed talks and posters. Almost all those given are included here although, unfortunately not the several lively but constructive discussion sessions.