A comprehensive yet accessible textbook introducing the nature of the rarefied matter that pervades the space between stars.

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.

This is a comprehensive and richly illustrated textbook on the astrophysics of the interstellar and intergalactic medium--the gas and dust, as well as the electromagnetic radiation, cosmic rays, and magnetic and gravitational fields, present between the stars in a galaxy and also between galaxies themselves. Topics include radiative processes across the electromagnetic spectrum; radiative transfer; ionization; heating and cooling; astrochemistry; interstellar dust; fluid dynamics, including ionization fronts and shock waves; cosmic rays; distribution and evolution of the interstellar medium; and star formation. While it is assumed that the reader has a background in undergraduate-level physics, including some prior exposure to atomic and molecular physics, statistical mechanics, and electromagnetism, the first six chapters of the book include a review of the basic physics that is used in later chapters. This graduate-level textbook includes references for further reading, and serves as an invaluable resource for working astrophysicists. Essential textbook on the physics of the interstellar and intergalactic medium Based on a course taught by the author for more than twenty years at Princeton University Covers radiative processes, fluid dynamics, cosmic rays, astrochemistry, interstellar dust, and more Discusses the physical state and distribution of the ionized, atomic, and molecular phases of the interstellar medium Reviews diagnostics using emission and absorption lines Features color illustrations and detailed reference materials in appendices Instructor's manual with problems and solutions (available only to teachers)

Publisher Description

Sun Kwok explains the fundamental physics and chemistry required for understanding the interstellar medium. The textbook is interlaced with mathematical derivations that are clean, elegant and easily understandable by those with an undergraduate background in physics.

The book leads the advanced undergraduate through the wide range of disciplines related to an understanding of the interstellar medium and is suitable for any student studying either physics or astrophysics. The study of the interstellar medium incorporates a large range of physical More...processes on both large and small scales all of which are covered in this text. Together with the inclusion of simple models and problems at the end of each chapter this text provides a comprehensive overview and grounding in the study of the interstellar medium.

This book is based on a series of lectures for an Astrophysics of the Interstellar Medium (ISM) master’s degree in Astrophysics and Cosmology at Padova University. From the cold molecular phase in which stars and planetary systems form, to the very hot coronal gas that surrounds galaxies and galaxy clusters, the ISM is everywhere. Studying its properties is vital for the exploration of virtually any field in astronomy and cosmology. These notes give the student a coherent and accurate mathematical and physical approach, with continuous references to the real ISM in galaxies. The book is divided into three parts. Part One introduces the equations of fluid dynamics for a system at rest and acoustic waves, and then explores the real ISM through the role of thermal conduction and viscosity, concluding with a discussion of shock waves and turbulence. In Part Two, the electromagnetic field is switched on and its role in modulating shock waves and contrasting gravity is studied. Part Three describes dust and its properties, followed by the main stellar sources of energy. The last two chapters respectively address the various components of the ISM and molecular clouds and star formation.

In the interstellar medium - the space between the stars in galaxies - new stars are born from material that is replenished by the debris ejected by stars when they die. This book is a comprehensive manual for studying the collisional and radiative processes observed in the interstellar medium. This second edition has been thoroughly updated and extended to cover related topics in radiation theory. It considers the chemistry of the interstellar medium both at the present epoch and in the early Universe, and discusses the physics and chemistry of shock waves. The methods of calculation of the rates of collisional excitation of interstellar molecules and atoms are explained, emphasising the quantum mechanical method. This book will be ideal for researchers involved in the interstellar medium and star formation, and physical chemists specialising in collision theory or in the measurement of the rates of collision processes.

This concise textbook covers all aspects of the interstellar and intergalactic medium, for graduate students and advanced undergraduates.

The space between the stars contains a large diversity of objects in which physical processes occur that are fundamental to the structure and evolution of galaxies. This book offers the reader a basic knowledge of these processes and presents simple numeric estimates of the main quantities relevant to the interstellar medium. The main objects that constitute the interstellar space are described, but the emphasis of the book lies in the physical processes occurring in these objects, which may also occur in other astrophysical environments. The book is directed tor graduate as well as advanced undergraduate students of physics and astrophysics.