X-Ray Astronomy : Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute Held at Erice, Sicily, July 1–14, 1979

This volume contains a series of lectures presented at the 5th Course of the International School of Astrophysics held in Erice (Sicily) from July 1st to July 14, 1979 at the "E. l1ajorana" Centre for Scientific Culture. The course was fully supported by a grant from the NATO Advanced Institute Programme. It was attended by about one hundred participants from ten countries. Since the discovery of the first extra-solar X-ray source in the early 1960's, X-ray astronomy has played an increasingly im­ portant role in the study of the Universe, bringing new insight to almost every field of modern astrophysics from stellar evolution to cosmology. Generally speaking, this branch of astronomy is concerned with the discovery, classification and study of "hot matter" in the universe, including high energy non-thermal pheno­ mena. In particular, X-ray observations appear to provide the main, if not the only, probe to inspect regions where collapsed objects are formed, such as the environment of neutron stars and of black holes in the presence of matter accretion onto the ob­ jects themselves. It is significant that the first candidate black hole (Cyg X-I) has been primarily singled out by its X-ray emission. In the same context, it is well known that one of the fundamental problems in modern astrophysics is the understanding of the strong activity taking place in galactic nuclei. Front Matter....Pages i-viii X-Ray Astronomy....Pages 1-13 Observations of Supernova Remnants with the Einstein Observatory....Pages 15-34 X-Ray Spectra of Supernova Remnants....Pages 35-45 Observations of Supernova Remnants in the Large Magellanic Cloud with the Einstein Observatory....Pages 47-59 High Resolution X-Ray Spectroscopy from the Einstein Observatory....Pages 61-71 X-Rays from the Surface of Neutron Stars....Pages 73-87 X-Ray Spectra of Galactic X-Ray Sources....Pages 89-102 Study of High Luminosity X-Ray Sources in External Galaxies (M-31)....Pages 103-113 X-Ray Sources and Stellar Evolution....Pages 115-127 Stellar Coronae from Einstein: Observations and Theory....Pages 129-151 The Structure and Evolution of X-Ray Clusters of Galaxies....Pages 153-170 The X-Ray Spectra of Clusters of Galaxies....Pages 171-179 Einstein Observations of the Virgo Cluster....Pages 181-195 Cluster Parameters....Pages 197-216 Models of X-Ray Emission from Clusters of Galaxies....Pages 217-237 X-Ray Structure of the Coma Cluster from Optical Data....Pages 239-243 X-Ray Emission from Clusters and the Formation of Galaxies....Pages 245-251 Radio Properties of Extragalactic X-Ray Sources....Pages 253-272 X-Ray Emission from Active Galaxies....Pages 273-290 Einstein Observations of Active Galaxies....Pages 291-310 Einstein Observations of Quasars....Pages 311-325 X-Ray Spectra of Active Galactic Nuclei....Pages 327-337 X-Ray Emission from Galactic Nuclei....Pages 339-354 Gas Close to the Radiative Continuum Source(S) in Active Nuclei....Pages 355-362 Categories of Extragalatic X-Ray Sources....Pages 363-375 The X-Ray Background as a Probe of the Matter Distribution on Very Large Scales....Pages 377-384 Deep Surveys with the Einstein Observatory....Pages 385-398 Back Matter....Pages 399-406 This volume contains a series of lectures presented at the 5th Course of the International School of Astrophysics held in Erice (Sicily) from July 1st to July 14, 1979 at the'E. Majorana'Centre for Scientific Culture. The course was fully supported by a grant from the NATO Advanced Institute Programme. It was attended by about one hundred participants from ten countries. Since the discovery of the first extra-solar X-ray source in the early 1960's, X-ray astronomy has played an increasingly im­portant role in the study of the Universe, bringing new insight to almost every field of modern astrophysics from stellar evolution to cosmology. Generally speaking, this branch of astronomy is concerned with the discovery, classification and study of'hot matter'in the universe, including high energy non-thermal pheno mena. In particular, X-ray observations appear to provide the main, if not the only, probe to inspect regions where collapsed objects are formed, such as the environment of neutron stars and of black holes in the presence of matter accretion onto the ob­jects themselves. It is significant that the first candidate black hole (Cyg X-I) has been primarily singled out by its X-ray emission. In the same context, it is well known that one of the fundamental problems in modern astrophysics is the understanding of the strong activity taking place in galactic nuclei. Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute, Erice, Sicily, Italy, July 1-14, 1979