Related papers: The Interstellar Medium of our Galaxy
Measurements by dust detectors on interplanetary spacecraft appear to indicate a substantial flux of interstellar particles with masses exceeding 10^{-12}gram. The reported abundance of these massive grains cannot be typical of interstellar…
An analysis of the distribution and kinematics of interstellar material within 500 pc of the Sun leads to the conclusion that the galactic environment of the Sun changes with time. Consideration of evidence for interstellar gas interacting…
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…
Galaxies represent the visible fabric of the Universe and there has been considerable progress recently in both observational and theoretical studies. The underlying goal is to understand the present-day diversity of galaxy forms, masses…
The Universe has evolved from an initial diffuse, uniform gas to a complex structure that includes both voids and high-density galaxy clusters connected by gaseous filaments, known as the Cosmic Web, and traced by 3D surveys of galaxies.…
The early stages of star formation are closely related to the ambient conditions in the interstellar medium. Important questions such as dust abundance, size distribution, temperature distribution, fraction of molecular gas, fraction of…
We review progress in the development of physically realistic three dimensional simulated models of the galaxy.We consider the scales from star forming molecular clouds to the full spiral disc. Models are computed using hydrodynamic (HD) or…
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…
Our Galaxy, the Milky Way, is a benchmark for understanding disk galaxies. It is the only galaxy whose formation history can be studied using the full distribution of stars from white dwarfs to supergiants. The oldest components provide us…
Since molecules are ubiquitous in space, the study of the 'Molecular Universe' could unfold the mystery of the existing Interstellar medium. Star formation is linked to the chemical evolution processes. Thus, an analysis of the formation of…
Molecular clouds are a fundamental ingredient of galaxies: they are the channels that transform the diffuse gas into stars. The detailed process of how they do it is not completely understood. We review the current knowledge of molecular…
The content of interstellar clouds, in particular the inventory of diffuse molecular gas, remains uncertain. We identified a sample of isolated clouds, approximately 100 solar masses in size, and used the dust content to estimate the total…
The spatial distribution of the gaseous components of the Milky Way is of great importance for a number of different fields, for example, Galactic structure, star formation, and cosmic rays. However, obtaining distance information to…
The Interstellar Medium (ISM) is a complex, multi-phase system, where the history of the stars occurs. The processes of birth and death of stars are strongly coupled to the dynamics of the ISM. The observed chaotic and diffusive motions of…
A range of astronomical data indicates that ancient supernovae created the galactic environment of the Sun and sculpted the physical properties of the interstellar medium near the heliosphere. In this paper we review the characteristics of…
Evolution in the measured rest frame ultraviolet spectral slope and ultraviolet to optical flux ratios indicate a rapid evolution in the dust obscuration of galaxies during the first 3 billion years of cosmic time (z>4). This evolution…
Massive stars drive the evolution of the interstellar medium through their radiative and mechanical energy input. After their birth, they form bubbles of hot gas surrounded by a dense shell. Traditionally, the formation of bubbles is…
This paper shows that gravitating bodies travelling through the Galaxy can trap lighter interstellar particles that pass nearby with small relative velocities onto temporarily-bound orbits. The capture mechanism is driven by the Galactic…
We present a two-component gasdynamic model of an interstellar cloud embedded in a hot plasma. It is assumed that the cloud consists of atomic hydrogen gas, interstellar plasma is quasineutral. Hydrogen atoms and plasma protons interact…
The interaction of the heliosphere with interstellar clouds has attracted interest since the late 1920's, both with a view to explaining apparent quasi-periodic climate "catastrophes" as well as periodic mass extinctions. Until recently,…