Sirius Matters (astrophysics And Space Science Library)
by Noah Brosch /
2011 / English / PDF
2.6 MB Download
Since very early times Sirius was a point of attraction in the
night sky. It served to synchronize calendars in antiquity and
was the subject of many myths and legends, including some modern
ones. It was perceived as a red star for more than 400 years, but
such reports were relegated to the Mediterranean region.
Astronomically, Sirius is a very bright star. This, and its
present close distance to us, argues in favor of it being the
target of detailed studies of stellar structure and evolution.
Its binary nature, with a companion that is one of the more
massive white dwarfs, is an additional reason for such studies.
This book collects the published information on Sirius in an
attempt to derive a coherent picture of how this system came to
look as it does.
Since very early times Sirius was a point of attraction in the
night sky. It served to synchronize calendars in antiquity and
was the subject of many myths and legends, including some modern
ones. It was perceived as a red star for more than 400 years, but
such reports were relegated to the Mediterranean region.
Astronomically, Sirius is a very bright star. This, and its
present close distance to us, argues in favor of it being the
target of detailed studies of stellar structure and evolution.
Its binary nature, with a companion that is one of the more
massive white dwarfs, is an additional reason for such studies.
This book collects the published information on Sirius in an
attempt to derive a coherent picture of how this system came to
look as it does.
