Describing interstellar matter in our galaxy in all of its various forms, this book also considers the physical and chemical processes that are occurring within this matter. The first seven chapters present the various components making up the interstellar matter and detail the ways that we are able to study them. The following seven chapters are devoted to the physical, chemical and dynamical processes that control the behaviour of interstellar matter. These include the instabilities and cloud collapse processes that lead to the formation of stars. The last chapter summarizes the transformations that can occur between the different phases of the interstellar medium. Emphasizing methods over results, The Interstellar Medium is written for graduate students, for young astronomers, and also for any researchers who have developed an interest in the interstellar medium.

Extremely broad coverage of the field Replaces L. Spitzer's classic text from 1978 Opens new roads to the exciting search for interstellar dust and its role in the birth of stars Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autorentext

James Lequeux completed his PhD thesis in radioastronomy in 1962 and was an assistant, then associate, professor of physics and astronomy at Paris University until 1966. He was an Astronomer from 1966-1999 and an invited scientist at CalTech from 1968-1969. Dr. Lequeux was also the Director of the Marseilles Observatory from 1983-1988 and was Editor-in-Chief of the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics for 15 years. He retired in 1999 and then began work on the history of astronomy, a subject he presently writes about. Dr. Lequeux has published over 403 papers and four books, including The Interstellar Medium (Springer 2005).

Inhalt
Our Galaxy, Host of the Interstellar Medium.- Radiations and Magnetic Fields.- Radiative Transfer and Excitation.- The Neutral Interstellar Gas.- The Ionized Interstellar Gas.- The Interstellar Medium at High Energies.- Interstellar Dust.- Heating and Cooling of the Interstellar Gas.- Interstellar Chemistry.- Photodissociation Regions.- Shocks.- Shock Applications.- Interstellar Turbulence.- Equilibrium, Collapse and Star Formation.- Changes of State and Transformations.