Related papers: The Interstellar Environment of our Galaxy
We present maps of the Galactic X-ray Halo and constrain the location of X-ray absorbing gas using the X-ray radiation transfer as distance a indicator. Based on a consistent model of the soft X-ray background (SXRB) and the ROSAT all-sky…
The chemical environment in circumstellar discs is a unique diagnostic of the thermal, physical and chemical environment. In this paper we examine the structure of star formation regions giving rise to low mass stars, and the chemical…
Interstellar hydrides -- that is, molecules containing a single heavy element atom with one or more hydrogen atoms -- were among the first molecules detected outside the solar system. They lie at the root of interstellar chemistry, being…
Continuum gamma-ray emission produced by interactions of cosmic rays with interstellar matter and radiation fields is a probe of non-thermal particle populations in galaxies. After decades of continuous improvements in experimental…
The interstellar medium (ISM) is a key ingredient in galaxy formation and evolution as it provides the molecular gas reservoir which fuels star formation and supermassive black hole accretion. Yet the ISM is one of the least studied aspects…
To investigate the role of magnetic fields in the evolution of the interstellar medium, formation and evolution of molecular clouds, and ultimately the formation of stars, their three-dimensional (3D) magnetic fields must be probed.…
With the increasing number of experiments dedicated to the observation of the Cosmic Microwave Background, interest on the detailed properties of the foreground Galactic emission has risen. In particular the focus is shifting towards…
We discuss models that astrochemists have developed to study the chemical composition of the interstellar medium. These models aim at computing the evolution of the chemical composition of a mixture of gas and dust under as- trophysical…
The enrichment of the intergalactic medium with heavy elements is a process that lies at the nexus of poorly-understood aspects of physical cosmology. We review current understanding of the processes that may remove metals from galaxies,…
The definition of nearby star systems is incomplete without an understanding of the dynamical interaction between the stars and ambient interstellar material. The Sun itself has been immersed in the Local Bubble interior void for millions…
This lecture is an introduction to cosmological tests with clusters of galaxies. Here I do not intend to provide a complete review of the subject, but rather to describe the basic procedures to set up the fitting machinery to constrain…
Our Galaxy is the largest nuclear interaction experiment which we know, because of the interaction between cosmic ray particles and the interstellar material. Cosmic rays are particles, which have been accelerated in the Galaxy or in…
Intergalactic space is filled with a pervasive medium of ionized gas, the Intergalactic Medium (IGM). A residual neutral fraction is detected in the spectra of Quasi-Stellar Objects at both low and high redshifts, revealing a highly…
We review the different excitation processes in the interstellar medium
We summarise observations and our current understanding of the interstellar medium (ISM) in galaxies, which mainly consists of three phases: cold atomic or molecular gas and clouds, warm neutral or ionised gas, and hot ionised gas. These…
There is a strong connection between the formation of a disk galaxy and the properties of the interstellar medium (ISM). Theoretical work has typically either focused on the cosmological buildup of a galaxy with a relatively crude model for…
Astrochemistry aims at studying chemical processes in astronomical environments. This discipline -- located at the crossroad between astrophysics and chemistry -- is rapidly evolving and explores the issue of the formation of molecules of…
At a distance of 8 kpc only, the center of the Galaxy provides a unique testbed for studies about the physics of the interstellar medium and star formation in the nuclei of galaxies. Since it shares many properties of other, more…
The interstellar medium is a key ingredient that governs star formation in galaxies. We present a detailed study of the infrared (~ 1-500 micron) spectral energy distributions of a large sample of 193 nearby (z ~ 0.088) luminous infrared…
The interstellar medium feeds both the formation of stars and the growth of black holes, making it a key ingredient in the evolution of galaxies. With the advent of the Atacama Large Millimeter/ submillimeter Array (ALMA), we can now probe…