Institut für Astronomie und Astrophysik Abteilung Astronomie Sand 1, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany
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Lecture on High Energy Sources in our Galaxy WS 2011/12

Contents

The sky seen in X-rays (ROSAT All-sky Survey). See the ROSAT pages at MPE.

The goal of this lecture is to provide an overview of celestial objects that are sources of high energy radiation (X-ray up to very high energy gamma radiation) in a normal galaxy like our Milky Way. We will discuss the different types of astronomical objects, which are either compact objects formed at the end of a stellar evolution, i.e., white dwarfs, neutron stars, black holes in binary systems, or diffuse emission nebulae formed after a stellar explosion (supernova remnants). To each object types we will present various sub-types and discuss the radiation processes responsible for the observed emission of these objects. A historical overview of observations and theories will be given and the most recent results will be reported, which, as a whole, enable us to improve our knowledge about the composition and the physical processes in the objects.

The lecture will cover the following topics:

• End stages of stellar evolution and supernovae
• Supernova remnants
• White dwarfs and cataclysmic variables
• Neutron stars
• X-ray binaries
• Isolated and accreting pulsars
• Black holes
• Microquasars
• Pulsar wind nebulae

The lecture is complementary to the High Energy Astrophysics lecture on Thursday morning. There will be essentially no overlap between the two courses. Taking both courses is therefore encouraged (but by no means mandatory).

The lecture will be given by Prof. A. Santangelo, Dr. M. Sasaki, and Dr. G. Pühlhofer.

Literature

• M. S. Longair, "High Energy Astrophysics", Cambridge University Press. Really a general good textbook for High Energy Astrophysics, the standard. Try to catch the 2011 edition if you can. Used to be 2 volumes, but the latest 2011 edition is only one volume.
• Ph. Charles & F. Seward, "Exploring the X-ray Universe", Cambridge University Press, 1995 or 2010 (try to catch the new edition). A good simple introduction to the X-ray observational aspects.
• H. Bradt, "Astrophysics Processes", Cambridge University Press. Gives a good overview on the physical processes in astronomical objects, both discussing the theory and presenting observational examples.
• Unsöld & Baschek, "Der Neue Kosmos", Springer Verlag, fünfte Auflage, from 1991. Still a very good introductory book, especially after the recent revisions.

Prerequisites

Basismodul Astronomie or comparable introductory course in Astronomy and Astrophysics.

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Gerd Pühlhofer | Impressum Last modified 10 Oct 2011