Observational Astrophysics

Pierre Léna is emeritus professor of physics and astrophysics at the university of Paris Diderot-Paris 7 and researcher at the Observatoire de Paris.François Mignard is a director of research of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientific (CNRS) at the Observatoire de la Côte d Azur. He specialises in astrometry and has played a major role in the future European space mission GAIA.

1. Astrophysical Information.- 2. The Earth's Atmosphere and Space.- 3. Radiation and Photometry.- 4. Telescopes and Images.- 5. Spectral Analysis.- 6. The Signal in Astronomy.- 7. Detectors.- 8. Space-Time Reference Frames.- Appendix A. Fourier Transforms.- A.1 Definitions and Properties.- A.1.1 Definitions.- A.1.2 Some Properties.- A.1.3 Important Special Cases in One Dimension.- A.1.4 Important Special Cases in Two Dimensions.- A.1.5 Important Theorems.- A.2 Physical Quantities and Fourier Transforms.- A.3 Wavelets.- Appendix B. Random Processes and Variables.- B.1 Random Variables.- B.2 Random or Stochastic Processes.- B.3 Physical Measurements and Estimates.- B.3.1 An Example of Estimation: Law of Large Numbers.- B.3.2 Estimating the Moments of a Process.- B.3.3 Estimation and Bias.- Appendix C. Physical and Astronomical Constants.- Appendix D. Tables of Space Missions.- Appendix E. Astronomy on the World Wide Web.- Appendix F. Acronyms and Abbreviations.

FROM REVIEWS OF THE FIRST EDITION
"Virtually any kind of observation that could be considered astronomical is discussed ... Could be of real value to theoretical astrophysicists who want a concise introduction to the theory of a wide diversity of astronomical techniques (...) This is not a handbook for observers. It is a broader reference for students, active researchers, and anyone who wants a detailed look at the tools of modern astronomy..."
PHYSICS TODAY

FROM THE REVIEWS:

REVIEWS OF ASTRONOMICAL TOOLS
"Considering all the new information included, i.e. in the field of neutrino astronomy and the study of gravitational waves, the new edition of this book is really a very useful tool and textbook for physicists, astronomers and graduate students in these fields."

SCIENCE MAGAZINE
"The descriptions, necessarily somewhat brief, are sufficiently detailed and well illustrated to inform the reader about the internal workings of each detector and what it is good for. Many useful graphs, typically with log scales that span several decades, compare the capabilities of alternative instrumentation...This is not a handbook for observers. It is a broader text and reference work for students, active researchers, or anyone who wants a detailed look at the tools of modern astronomy...this book can inform contemporary observers about the ingenious variety of those remote detectors that feed their terminals with images and spectra of the cosmos."