In a nontechnical fashion, this book tells the story of how astronomy and physics work together to unravel many mysteries of stars and nebulae. Professor Aller's descriptions stress deeper understanding of these objects, not just a mere review of facts. After a succinct, nonmathematical excursion into the principles of radiation and atomic structure, he explains in simple terms the physical processes at work in stars and gaseous nebulae. A survey of masses, dimensions, luminosities, temperatures, and chemical compositions of stars is followed by an exploration of their interiors and how stars...

Gaseous nebulae offer outstanding opportunities to atomic physicists, spectroscopists, plasma experts, and to observers and theoreticians alike for the study of attenuated ionized gases. These nebulae are often dusty, heated by radiation fields and by shocks. They are short-lived phenomena on the scale of a stellar lifetime, but their chemical compositions and internal kinematics may give important clues to advanced stages of stellar evolution. The material herein presented is based on lectures given at the University of Michigan, University of Queensland, University of California, Los...