Celestial and Stellar Dynamics

Barbara Ryden

ISBN 10: 110881901X / ISBN 13: 9781108819015

Published by Cambridge University Press, GB, 2025

About this Item

Although the field of celestial dynamics - the application of Newtonian dynamics to systems with a relatively small number of celestial bodies - is centuries old, it has been reinvigorated by the discovery of thousands of exoplanetary systems orbiting other stars. This textbook uses the properties of planetary systems, including own Solar System, to illustrate the rich variety of behavior permitted by Newton's law of gravity. The textbook then expands its view to examine stellar dynamics - the study of systems containing a very large number of stars or other celestial bodies. The different techniques used for celestial dynamics and stellar dynamics are compared and contrasted. However, throughout the text, emphasis is placed on the underlying physics that applies on scales as small as the Earth-Moon system and as large as a cluster of galaxies. It is ideal for a 1-semester astrophysical dynamics course for upper-level undergraduates and starting graduate students.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781108819015

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Celestial and Stellar Dynamics
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, GB
• Publication Date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 110881901X
• ISBN 13: 9781108819015
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 480 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Although the field of celestial dynamics – the application of Newtonian dynamics to systems with a relatively small number of celestial bodies – is centuries old, it has been reinvigorated by the discovery of thousands of exoplanetary systems orbiting other stars. This textbook uses the properties of planetary systems, including own Solar System, to illustrate the rich variety of behavior permitted by Newton's law of gravity. The textbook then expands its view to examine stellar dynamics – the study of systems containing a very large number of stars or other celestial bodies. The different techniques used for celestial dynamics and stellar dynamics are compared and contrasted. However, throughout the text, emphasis is placed on the underlying physics that applies on scales as small as the Earth–Moon system and as large as a cluster of galaxies. It is ideal for a 1-semester astrophysical dynamics course for upper-level undergraduates and starting graduate students.

About the Author

Barbara Ryden received her Ph.D. in astrophysical sciences from Princeton University. After postdocs at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, she joined the astronomy faculty at The Ohio State University, where she is a full professor. She has thirty years of experience in teaching, at levels ranging from introductory undergraduate courses to advanced graduate seminars. She won the Chambliss Astronomical Writing Award for the first edition of her textbook Introduction to Cosmology (2016), and is co-author of the books Foundations of Astrophysics (2020), Interstellar and Intergalactic Medium (2021) and Stellar Structure and Evolution (2023).