Errata list for

An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics

Second Edition (second printing), 2007
June 10, 2013

To determine the printing of your text, look on page ii (the page following the title page); the
second line from the bottom shows a string of numbers such as

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10DOC09 08 07

if the first number is 2 then it is a second printing (as in this example), if the first number is 1
then it is a first printing, and so on. The last number on the right indicates the year in which the
printing was published. In this case, the second printing came out in 2007.

Significant Errors, Omissions, or Revisions:

1. Inside front cover, Appendix A, Astronomical Constants: Solar effective temperature formula
2 1=4


has a misplaced left parenthesis. The correct formula is Te;  L =4R .

2. Inside front cover, Appendix A, Physical Constants: The latest CODATA constants became
available on June 2, 2011 after publication of An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics. The
latest constants are available at http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Constants.
The mass of the hydrogen atom was taken from Wang, et. al., Chinese Physics C, 36, 1603,
2012.
Note that the new values will not be incorporated into the textbooks associated software.
The reader can make the changes if desired by updating the Fortran module or C++ header
file associated with Appendix I. However, changing the constants may result in slight incon-
sistencies with solutions given in the text and its solutions manual.
An updated Appendix A, Physical Constants is available on the next page.
 Physical Constants
Gravitational constant G D 6:67384.80/  10 11 N m2 kg 2
Speed of light (exact) c  2:99792458  108 m s 1
Permeability of free space 0  4  10 7 N A 2
Permittivity of free space 0  1=0c 2
D 8:854187817 : : :  10 12 F m 1
Electric charge e D 1:602176565.35/  10 19 C
Electron volt 1 eV D 1:602176565.35/  10 19 J
Plancks constant h D 6:62606957.29/  10 34 J s
D 4:135667516.91/  10 15 eV s
 h=2
D 1:054571726.47/  10 34 J s
D 6:58211928.15/  10 16 eV s
Plancks constant  speed of light hc D 1:23984193.9/  103 eV nm
' 1240 eV nm
Boltzmanns constant k D 1:3806488.13/  10 23 J K 1
D 8:6173324.78/  10 5 eV K 1
StefanBoltzmann constant   2 5k 4 =.15c 2h3 /
D 5:670373.21/  10 8 W m 2 K 4
Radiation constant a D 4=c
D 7:565731.28/  10 16 J m 3 K 4
Atomic mass unit 1u D 1:660538921.73/  10 27 kg
D 931:494061.21/ MeV=c 2
Electron mass me D 9:10938291.40/  10 31 kg
D 5:4857990946.22/  10 4 u
Proton mass mp D 1:672621777.74/  10 27 kg
D 1:007276466812.90/ u
Neutron mass mn D 1:674927351.74/  10 27 kg
D 1:00866491600.43/ u
Hydrogen mass mH D 1:673532692.74/  10 27 kg
D 1:007825032231.93/ u
Avogadros number NA D 6:02214129.27/  1023 mol 1
Gas constant R  NA k
D 8:3144621.82/ J mol 1 K 1
Bohr radius a0;1  40 2 =me e 2
D 5:2917721092.17/  10 11 m
a0;H  .me =/a0;1
D 5:294654098.2/  10 11 m
Rydberg constant R1  me e 4=64 302 3 c
D 1:0973731568539.55/  107 m 1
RH  .=me /R1
D 1:0967758340.1/  107 m 1
Note: Uncertainties in the last digits are indicated in parentheses. For instance, the universal gravitational constant, G,
has an uncertainty of 0:00080  10 11
N m2 kg 2
.

3. page 9, Second full paragraph, fourth sentence should be replaced by: During the start of
spring the Sun is in the constellation of Pisces, during the beginning of summer it is in Taurus,
at the beginning of autumn the Sun is located in Virgo, and at the start of winter the Sun is
in Sagittarius.
4. page 28, End of Example 2.1.1: 19% should be replaced by 20.6%.

5. page 34, Figure 2.8: The angles mysteriously did not appear in the printed text. The angle
 by m between r and s should be  while the angle from the sphere center between R and
r should be  . The correct figure is available in the downloadable collection of Chapter 2
figures.

6. page 47, First sentence of the first full paragraph, beginning with Expressions for the
speed..., the aphelion angle should be  D , not  D =2.

7. page 55, Problem 2.14. For clarification, part (a) should be reworded to read Using Keplers
original formulation of his third law as given on p. 25, determine the semimajor axis of Comet
Halleys orbit.

8. page 55, Problem 2.14. Again for clarification, part (b) should be reworded to read Using
Newtons formulation of Keplers third law (Eq. 2.37), use the orbital data of Comet Halley
to estimate the mass of the Sun.

9. page 66, Table 3.1: The gamma ray wavelengths should be indicated as less than 0.01 nm.
The corrected version should be
Table 3.1 The Electromagnetic Spectrum.

Region Wavelength
Gamma ray  < 0:01 nm
X-ray 0.01 nm <  < 10 nm
Ultraviolet 10 nm <  < 400 nm
Visible 400 nm <  < 700 nm
Infrared 700 nm <  < 1 mm
Microwave 1 mm <  < 10 cm
Radio 10 cm < 

10. page 87, Section 4.2, first line: Albert Einstein was born in 1879.

11. page 87, Figure 4.3 caption: Albert Einstein was born in 1879.

12. page 121, Table 5.2: The Balmer limit should be 1 $ 2 (instead of 1 $ 3).

13. page 121, Table 5.2: The Lyman lines are actually measured in vacuo rather than in air. It
is traditional to quote wavelengths in air for 200 nm to 2000 nm, and in vacuum outside that
range. A corrected version of the table should be
Table 5.2 The wavelengths of selected hydrogen spectral lines. (Based on Cox, (ed.), Allens
Astrophysical Quantities, Fourth Edition, Springer, New York, 2000.)
 Series Name Symbol Transition Wavelength (nm) Medium
Lyman Ly 2$1 121:567 vacuum
Ly 3$1 102:572 vacuum
Ly 4$1 97:254 vacuum
Lylimit 1$1 91:18 vacuum
Balmer H 3$2 656:281 air
H 4$2 486:134 air
H 5$2 434:048 air
H 6$2 410:175 air
H 7$2 397:007 air
H8 8$2 388:905 air
Hlimit 1$2 364:6 air
Paschen Pa 4$3 1875:10 air
Pa 5$3 1281:81 air
Pa 6$3 1093:81 air
Palimit 1$3 820:4 air

14. page 332, in the fourth line following the header The Vogt-Russell Theorem, (Eq. 10.36)
should be replaced by (Eq. 10.68).

15. page 369, First line: The wavelength dependence should be  4 , not  2 .

16. page 369, Second line: The referenced equation should be Eq. 3.20 rather than Eq. 3.22.

17. page 456, The last line on the page before the equation should read envelope. This immedi-
ately simplifies to give. [(Eq. 13.1) should be deleted.]

18. page 532, Example 15.3.2: The second sentence of the second paragraph should read:

From the virial theorem (see Eq. 10.23), the energy released in the formation of a
spherically symmetric star of constant density is

3 GM 2
E :
10 R

19. page 686, last paragraph: The uncertainty in hMB i should be 0:3.

20. page 687, end of second paragraph: ( 0:1c) should read (& 0:03c).

21. page 900, center of page: `NCP should be 122 55055:200 .

22. page 901, Eq. (24.21): The subscript on ` in the final cos term should be NCP rather than
NGP, as in

cos cos. NGP / D cos NGP sin b sin NGP cos b cos.`NCP `/:
23. page 913: Due to sign changes for 0  `  90 and 270  `  360 , it becomes necessary
to modify Eq. (24.45) and two of the equations leading up to it. The first equation on p. 913
should be written as
(
C; if 0  `  90
Rmin D R0 j sin `j D R0 sin `
; if 270  `  360
The second equation becomes
(
C; if 0  `  90
vr;max D .Rmin / 0 .R0 / sin `
; if 270  `  360
Finally, Eq. (24.45) becomes
(
C; if 0  `  90
vr;max ' 2AR0 .1 sin `/
; if 270  `  360

24. page 937, Problem 24.22(b): 0 should be in units of M pc 3 .

25. page 1042, First paragraph following Example 27.1.1: The uncertainty in hMB i should be
0:3.
26. page 1043, Example 27.1.2: The answer should be 36:5 Mpc.
27. page 1128, Example 28.3.4: The first part of the example should read:

Referring to Example 28.3.3, since the actual speed of the radio knot ejected by
3C 273 must be less than c, as required by special relativity, it is necessary from
Eq. (28.16) that !
2 2
vapp =c 1
 < cos 1 2 =c 2 C 1
D 14:5 :
vapp
That is, the knot must be approaching Earth within 14.5 of the line of sight.

28. page 1176, final paragraph, second-to-last sentence: : : : 12.5 billion years, a billion years
more : : : should be replaced by : : : 17.7 billion years, more than six billion years greater
: : :.
29. page 1177, the equation immediately preceding Eq. (29.96) has mp and mn reversed. The
equation should read:
.mn mp /c 2 D 1:293 MeV
30. page 1177, Eq. (29.96): The subscripts on the right-hand-side are reversed. The equation
should read:
nn 2
D e .mn mp /c =kT :
np
31. page A-5, Appendix E: The entries for Capella should indicate a spectral class of G8 III for
star A and spectral class G0 III for star B.
 Minor Errors or Typos:

1. inside front cover, Appendix A, Astronomical Constants: magnitude was misspelled in

Solar absolute bolometric magnitude.

2. page 159, fifth line from bottom of page: replace aide with aid.

3. page 159, fourth line from bottome of page: replace later with latter.

4. page 434, Figure 12.15, second sentence of caption: replace left most with left-most.

5. page 524, first sentence of Section 15.2: replace Lupis with Lupus.

6. page 691, last paragraph, second-to-last line: replace quelched with squelched.

7. page 756, third line under heading Moon Rocks: addition should be additional.

8. page 784, tenth line under heading Internal Heat and the Cooling Timescale: its
should be its.

9. page 860, last sentence, top (partial) paragraph: the leading quotes on blizzard line are
facing the wrong way.

10. page 1128, Eq. (28.19): The ' should be replaced by D.

11. page 1222, Problem 29.18: The referenced quasar should be Q1331+170.

12. page 1228, Problem 29.55(b): The units for Fx in both cases should be roman font rather
than italicized, as in Fx D 5:77  10 15 W m 2 and Fx D 7:16  10 15 W m 2 .

13. page 1248, first full paragraph, seventh line: replace fluctuation with fluctuations.

14. inside back cover, Appendix B, in the footnote to the second table: replace micellaneous
with miscellaneous.