Astrophysics of Gaseous Nebulae and Active Galactic Nuclei, second edition

Thoroughly revised, expanded and updated throughout, this new edition of Astrophysics of GaseousNebulae and Active Galactic Nuclei is a graduate-level text and reference book on gaseous nebulae, nova and supernova remnants, and the emission-line regions in Seyfert galaxies, radio galaxies, quasars, and other types of active galactic nuclei. Much of the new data and many of the new images are from the Hubble Space Telescope and some of the largest ground-based telescopes in the world. Two wholly new chapters have been added, one on infrared astronomy and the other on X-ray astronomy, reflecting the great advances in these fields. This new edition also contains two completely new appendices, one a long primer on the quantum-mechanical concepts used in the analysis of nebular emission-line spectra, and the other a briefer description of molecular spectra. Large amounts of new data on dust in nebulae and quasars, and the photo-dissociated regions containing neutral atoms, molecules, and dust within and around them, have also been added to the book. Thus, the previous edition of this classic text, which has been tried, tested, and widely used for thirty years, has now been succeeded by a new, revised, updated, larger edition, which will be valuable to anyone seriously interested in astrophysics.

Table of Contents:
1 General Introduction 
2 Photoionization Equilibrium
3 Thermal Equilibrium
4 Calculation of Emitted Spectrum
5 Comparison of Theory with Observations
6 Internal Dynamics of Gaseous Nebulae
7 Interstellar Dust
8 Infrared Radiation and Molecules
9 H II Regions in the Galactic Context
10 Planetary Nebulae
11 Heavy Elements and High-Energy Effects
12 Nova and Supernova Remnants
13 Active Galactic Nuclei - Diagnostics and Physics
14 Active Galactic Nuclei - Results

Appendix 1 Measures of Light
Appendix 2  Milne Relation Between Capture and Photoionization Cross Sections
Appendix 3 Emission Lines of Neutral Atoms
Appendix 4 Nebular Quantum Mechanics
Appendix 5 Atomic Data for Heavy Element Ionization Balance 
Appendix 6 Quantum Mechanics of Molecules
Index

About the Author :
DONALD E. OSTERBROCK is a world-renowned research astrophysicist, Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Emeritus at Lick Observatory of the University of California, Santa Cruz, USA. He was president of the American Astronomical Society 1988-90, and was named its Henry Norris Russell lecturer, its highest honour, in 1991.

GARY J. FERLAND received his doctorate from the University of Texas and did post-graduate research at Cambridge University before joining the faculty of the University of Kentucky in 1980, where he is now Professor of Physics and Astronomy.

Review :
"This is a much-needed update to the classic work by Osterbrock with the same title, one of the most heavily used and cited in all of astrophysics. It states physical principles very clearly and shows their applications to many types of astronomical objects. Important developments since the previous volume, especially in infrared and X-ray astronomy, have been added." --John S. Mathis, University of Wisconsin-Madison

"This new edition of AGN2 is impressive for the breadth of processes and objects that it covers. Full of physical insight, it remains the definitive reference for understanding every type of emission-line object. I keep a copy on my desk at all times." --Robert Williams, Space Telescope Science Institute