Related papers: Local Interstellar Matter: The view from Paris
The regions in which stellar winds interact with the interstellar medium, also known as astrospheres, can be observed in detail through the thermal emission of the interstellar dust particles, resided in plasma. Interstellar dust is also…
The interstellar medium (ISM) has a multiphase structure characterized by gas, dust and molecules. The gas can be found in different charge states: neutral, low-ionized (warm) and high-ionized (hot). It is possible to probe the multiphase…
We present results from an on-going programme to study the dust and ionized gas in E/S0 galaxies with dust lanes. Our data, together with results from previous studies of E/S0 galaxies, are used to demonstrate the tight relationship between…
The interaction of dust grains originating from the local interstellar cloud with the environment inside the heliosphere is investigated. As a consequence of this interaction the spatial distribution of interstellar dust grains changes with…
The intergalactic medium (IGM) comprises all the matter that lies between galaxies. Hosting the vast majority ($\gtrsim 90\%$) of the baryons in the Universe, the IGM is a critical reservoir and probe for cosmology and astrophysics,…
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…
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 neutral interstellar medium (ISM) inside the Local Bubble (LB) has been known to have properties typical of the warm neutral medium (WNM). However, several recent neutral hydrogen (HI) absorption experiments show evidence for the…
The interplay between the ISM and the massive stars formed in clusters and, more generally, in recent events of star formation is reviewed via the global effects each has on the other. The pre-existing environment affects the properties of…
The wavelength dependences of interstellar extinction and polarization, supplemented by observed elemental abundances and the spectrum of infrared emission from dust heated by starlight, strongly constrain dust models. One dust model that…
The gas-to-dust mass ratios found for interstellar dust within the Solar System, versus values determined astronomically for the cloud around the Solar System, suggest that large and small interstellar grains have separate histories, and…
Several sets of data show that small interstellar grains captured in interstellar magnetic fields draped over the heliosphere appear to polarize the light of nearby stars. The maximum polarization direction is offset in ecliptic longitude…
Stellar and nebular abundance indicators reveal that there exists significant abundance fluctuations in the interstellar medium (ISM) of gas-rich galaxies. It is shown that at the present observed solar level of O/H $\sim 6 \times 10^{-4}$,…
Results from IRAS and recent X-ray and optical surveys are reviewed to discuss the properties and nature of the interstellar medium in elliptical galaxies. As to the dust component, there is a strong contrast with the situation among spiral…
We review the current knowledge and understanding of the interstellar medium of our galaxy. We first present each of the three basic constituents - ordinary matter, cosmic rays, and magnetic fields - of the interstellar medium, laying…
This chapter reviews the nature of turbulence in the Galactic interstellar medium (ISM) and its connections to the star formation (SF) process. The ISM is turbulent, magnetized, self-gravitating, and is subject to heating and cooling…
Over the course of its motion through the Galaxy, our solar system has encountered many interstellar environments of varying characteristics. Interstellar medium (ISM) density variations spanning seven orders of magnitude are commonly seen…
We describe the interface between the outer heliosphere and the local interstellar medium (LISM) surrounding the Sun. The components of the inner LISM are the four partially ionized clouds [the Local Interstellar Cloud (LIC), G cloud, Blue…
Recent observations in the 21cm line with the Green Bank Telescope have changed our view of the neutral interstellar medium (ISM) in several ways. The new data show that in the inner parts of the Milky Way the disk-halo interface is…
The interstellar medium (ISM) provides a unique laboratory for highly supersonic, driven hydrodynamics turbulence. We present a theory of such turbulence, confirm it by numerical simulations, and use the results to explain observational…