This book brings together the lectures given at the Les Houches summer school "Infrared space astronomy, today and tomorrow". It gives a wide overview of infrared astronomy, a wavelength domain crucial for studies of the solar system, stars at the beginning and end of their lives, interstellar matter and galaxies at all distances. Recent developments in observational techniques have been tremendous. The first contributions give an introduction to the basic physical processes and methods of detection and data processing. They are followed by a series of lectures dealing with the wide variety of astronomical objects that can be seen in the infrared.

Infrared Astronomy is a very active field and affects large parts of astronomical and cosmological research. This unique collection of high-quality lectures should attract a wide audience. Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Klappentext

In these lectures, I have discussed a number of basic concepts that provide the necessary background to the current studies of star formation. A ?rst partwas dedicatedto illustrate the conceptofa protostar,discussing con- tions and propertiesof the collapseof a molecular core. A secondpart deals with circumstellardisks. Disks areimportantnot only to the processofstar formation itself, but also because they are in all probability the site where planets form. The age range of pre-main sequence stars coincides with the timescales for the formation of very large planetesimals, the building blocks of planets. Studies ofdisk properties in pre-main sequencestars ofdi?erent age, located in star-forming regions of di?erent properties, may shed light on the characteristics of planet formation processes. ISO observations can provide important (in some cases, unique) inf- mation on the various stages of the star and planet formation. I have illustrated in detail some examples, when, to my knowledge, ISO data had been reduced and analyzed. Many other programs exist, and will certainly contribute to our understanding of star formation in the near future.

Inhalt
Some Quantitative Aspects of Galactic and Extragalactic Infrared Astronomy.- Overview of the ISO Mission.- Data Analysis with ISOCAM.- ISO Observations of Solar-System Objects.- Stars and Galactic Structure.- Star Formation.- Dust in the Interstellar Medium.- Normal Galaxies in the Infrared.- Active Galaxies.- Cosmology with ISO.