Accretion Processes in Star Formation (Cambridge Astrophysics, Series Number 32) - Softcover

Hartmann, Lee

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521785200 ISBN 13: 9780521785204

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2000

Synopsis

Recent discoveries of extrasolar planets and new direct evidence for protoplanetary disks around young stars have had a major impact on our understanding of star and planet formation. This book provides a thorough, up-to-date, and concise overview of the physical processes involved in the formation of stars and the disks around them which ultimately form planets. The book traces the story of star formation from the fragmentation of cold molecular gas clouds, through to the formation of protostars and rotating dusty disks and the subsequent accretion of material onto the central star. Throughout, state-of-the-art theoretical models are integrated with recent observations, and in this way important problems which remain to be solved are highlighted. This book provides graduate students and researchers with the first comprehensive account of the dynamical processes of star and protoplanetary disk formation.

About this title

About the Author

Lee Hartmann is currently Professor of Astronomy at the University of Michigan and a vice-president of the American Astronomical Society. He is an expert on star formation and protoplanetary disk evolution.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521785200
• ISBN 13: 9780521785204
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 237