Polarization in Spectral Lines.
Series: Astrophysics and space science library ; v. 307Dordrecht ; Boston : Kluwer Academic Publishers, c2004Description: xvii, 890 p. : ill. ; 25 cmContent type:- text
- unmediated
- volume
- 1402024142 (hardback : acidfree paper)
- 1402024150 (e-book)
- QC441 .D29 2004
| Item type | Current library | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BOOK
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NCAR Library Foothills Lab | QC441 .D29 2004 | 1 | Available | 50583010308439 |
Includes bibliographical references (p. [869]-879) and indexes.
Apart from a few objects of our immediate neighborhood (the solar system), all the information on the physical phenomena taking place in the Universe comes from the radiation that the astronomical objects send into space and that is finally collected on earth by telescopes or other instruments. Among the different kinds of radiation, electromagnetic waves have by far played the most important role in the history of Astronomy – probably, it is not unrealistic to say that more than 99% of our present knowledge of the Universe derives from the analysis of the electromagnetic radiation. Such radiation contains three different kinds of information, encoded into as many physical characteristics typical of any oscillatory propagation phenomenon: the propagation direction, the frequency and amplitude of the oscillation, and the oscillation direction – or polarization.