RR Lyrae StarsThis is a comprehensive account of RR Lyrae stars, and traces the story from their initial discovery a century ago, through to their present status. This book reviews our current understanding of RR Lyrae stars. It is a unique explanation of the multiple applications of these variable stars for a range of astrophysical problems. Horace A. Smith describes the use of RR Lyrae stars as probes of old stellar populations, both in the Milky Way and other galaxies, and as an outstanding testing ground for stellar evolution and pulsation theories. He stresses the significance of variable stars for our ultimate understanding of the history and scale of the Milky Way and nearer extragalactic systems. For advanced students and researchers of astronomy, this is a definitive account of the modern theories surrounding RR Lyrae stars. |
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absolute magnitude amplitude anomalous Cepheids Baade Baade-Wesselink Blazhko cycle Blazhko effect stars brighter Butler calculations Carney Centauri Clement cluster RR Lyrae color-magnitude diagram determined disk population distance modulus double mode dwarf spheroidal systems effective temperature Fe/H field RR Lyrae fundamental mode galactic halo Galaxy globular cluster M3 halo horizontal branch stars HR diagram hydrogen instability strip Katem Kinman lightcurve luminosity Magellanic Cloud clusters main sequence mass maximum light mean periods metal abundance metal-poor metal-rich models Nemec O-C diagram observed Oosterhoff groups Oosterhoff II clusters Oosterhoff type percent period shift period-amplitude diagram period-luminosity relation phase photometry Preston radial velocity red giant RR Lyrae stars RR Lyrae variables RRab stars RRab variables RRc stars Saha Sandage solar star clusters stars in globular stellar evolution stellar evolution theory stellar population Szeidl thick disk Tsesevich values variable stars Walker Wehlau Wesselink ZAHB Zinn