vik dhillon: phy217 - course information

text books

The on-line course notes provide all of the information you need for this course. If you wish to read around, however, I would recommend the following texts (roughly in decreasing order of importance):

To Measure the Sky by Frederick R. Chromey (CUP), ISBN: 9780521747684. The book is currently in its first edition and costs around 37 pounds in paperback. There are 3 such texts in the Information Commons.

This book, which came out quite recently, is probably the closest text you will find to the content of my course. It covers a great deal of the material I cover, and at a very similar level. Strongly recommended.
Electronic Imaging in Astronomy by Ian S. McLean (Springer-Verlag), ISBN: 9783540765820. This book is currently in its second edition and costs around 63 pounds in both hardback and paperback. There are 3 such texts in the Information Commons.

As its name implies, this book covers the detector aspects of my course, although it also has much useful information on instrumentation. The book tends to go into more detail than is required for PHY217, but it is written in a very readable style and I strongly recommend it.
Astronomy: Principles and Practice by A. E. Roy and D. Clarke (Institute of Physics Publishing), ISBN: 9780750309172. This book is currently in its fourth edition and you should be able to find a new paperback copy for around 35 pounds. The Information Commons holds 6 copies of this book. Beware of older editions, as they don't cover modern detectors and instrumentation.

This is an excellent book which will come in useful throughout your degree. It covers a much wider range of topics than my course, but the parts on telescopes are covered at just the right level of detail.
Astrophysical Techniques by C. R. Kitchin (Taylor & Francis Inc), ISBN: 9781420082432. This is currently in its fifth edition, and is available in hardback for around 35 pounds. The Information Commons holds 3 copies of this book.

This book covers a much wider range of material than my course, but unfortunately does not go into enough depth on some of the subjects that I require you to know. It may, however, be of use as a reference text.