Related papers: The Interstellar Environment of our Galaxy
We present a model of the interaction of interstellar dust grains with a stellar environment, that predicts the distribution of interstellar dust grains in the size range between $0.1 {\rm \mu m}$ and $1 {\rm \mu m}$ around a star for the…
The properties of the interstellar medium (ISM) surrounding a planetary system can impact planetary climate through a number of mechanisms, including changing the size of the astrosphere (one of the major shields for cosmic rays) as well as…
Extensive photometric stellar surveys show that many main sequence stars show emission at infrared and longer wavelengths that is in excess of the stellar photosphere; this emission is thought to arise from circumstellar dust. The presence…
I present a discussion of fundamental stellar parameters and their observational determination in the context of interferometric measurements with current and future optical/infrared interferometric facilities. Stellar parameters and the…
The hot circum-galactic medium (CGM) represents the hot gas distributed beyond the stellar content of the galaxies while typically within their dark matter halos. It serves as a depository of energy and metal-enriched materials from…
The ultraviolet and optical background forms a baseline for any observation of the sky. It includes emission lines and scattered light from the atmosphere; resonant scattering from the Lyman lines of interplanetary hydrogen and the…
We survey the theory and experimental tests for the propagation of cosmic rays in the Galaxy up to energies of 10^15 eV. A guide to the previous reviews and essential literature is given, followed by an exposition of basic principles. The…
This review addresses what can be learned from infrared observations about galaxies powered predominantly by star formation. Infrared techniques mostly probe the interstellar medium of galaxies, yielding physical and chemical information on…
For many decades the determination of accurate fundamental parameters for stars (masses, radii, temperatures, luminosities, etc.) has mostly been the domain of eclipsing binary systems. That has begun to change as long-baseline…
Cosmic-ray electrons and positrons propagating in the Galaxy produce diffuse gamma-rays via the inverse Compton (IC) process. The low energy target photon populations with which the cosmic-rays interact during propagation are produced by…
Magnetic fields are involved in every astrophysical process on every scale: from planetary and stellar interiors to neutron stars, stellar wind bubbles and supernova remnants; from the interstellar medium in galactic disks, nuclei, spiral…
The past century of interstellar dust has brought us from first ignoring it to finding that it plays an important role in the evolution of galaxies. Current observational results in our galaxy provide a complex physical and chemical…
This chapter explores the physics shared by planetary rings and the various disks that populate the Universe. It begins with an observational overview, ranging from protoplanetary disks to spiral galaxies, and then compares and contrasts…
We analyze high-resolution ultraviolet spectra of three nearby exoplanet host stars (HD 192310, HD 9826, and HD 206860) to study interstellar properties along their lines of sight and to search for the presence of astrospheric absorption.…
The main achievements, current developments and prospects of molecular studies in external galaxies are reviewed. They are put in the context of the results of several decades of studies of molecules in local interstellar medium, their…
This chapter presents a review of observational studies to determine the magnetic field in the Milky Way, both in the disk and in the halo, focused on recent developments and on magnetic fields in the diffuse interstellar medium. I discuss…
I review the assumptions and observations that motivate the concept of the extragalactic cosmic background radiation, and the issues of energy accounts and star formation history as a function of galaxy morphological type that figure in the…
Dust grains play a central role in the physics and chemistry of cosmic environments. They influence the optical and thermal properties of the medium due to their interaction with stellar radiation; provide surfaces for the chemical…
We describe observations in the nearby universe (<100 Mpc) with a 10-m or larger space-based telescope having imaging and spectral capabilities in the range 912-9000 \AA that would enable advances in the fields of massive stars, young…
It is a truism within the exoplanet field that "to know the planet, you must know the star." This pertains to the physical properties of the star (i.e. mass, radius, luminosity, age, multiplicity), the activity and magnetic fields, as well…