Physics and Chemistry of Circumstellar Dust Shells


Book Description

This book explores why dust forms around stars, and how to model stellar dust formation and dust-forming environments consistently.




The Chemistry of Cosmic Dust


Book Description

It has been firmly established over the last quarter century that cosmic dust plays important roles in astrochemistry. The consequences of these roles affect the formation of planets, stars and even galaxies. Cosmic dust has been a controversial topic but there is now a considerable measure of agreement as to its nature and roles in astronomy, and its initiation of astrobiology. The subject has stimulated an enormous research effort, with researchers in many countries now involved in laboratory research and in ab initio computations. This is the first book devoted to a study of the chemistry of cosmic dust, presenting current thinking on the subject distilled from many publications in surface and solid-state science, and in astronomy. The authors discuss the nature of dust, its formation and evolution, the chemistry it can promote on its surfaces, and the consequences of these functions. The purpose of this book is to review current understanding and to indicate where future work is required. Mainly intended for researchers in the field of astrochemistry, the book could also be used as the basis of a course for postgraduate students who have an interest in astrochemistry.




Dust and Molecules in Evolved Stars


Book Description

Dust and molecules are found in a large variety of astrophysical environments, in particular in the circumstellar material ejected by evolved stars. This book brings together the leading astronomers and astrophysicists in the field of molecular astrophysics and stellar physics to discuss the important issues of dust and molecular formation, the role of solids in circumstellar environments, molecules as probes of circumstellar parameters, the stellar contribution to the enrichment of the Galaxy, and the latest observational data in various wavelength domains, in partiular in the infrared with results from the Infrared Space Observatory. The astrophysical senarios include late-type stars, novae, Wolf-Rayet stars, Luminous Blue Variables and supernovae. Audience: Researchers and graduate students in the fields of stellar physics, stellar evolution and astrochemistry.




Laboratory Astrochemistry


Book Description

Written by leading scientists in the field and intended for a broader readership, this is an ideal starting point for an overview of current research and developments. As such, the book covers a broad spectrum of laboratory astrophysics and chemistry, describing recent advances in experiments, as well as theoretical work, including fundamental physics and modeling chemical networks. For researchers as well as students and newcomers to the field.




Encyclopedia of Astrobiology


Book Description

Now in its third edition the Encyclopedia of Astrobiology serves as the key to a common understanding in the extremely interdisciplinary community of astrobiologists. Each new or experienced researcher and graduate student in adjacent fields of astrobiology will appreciate this reference work in the quest to understand the big picture. The carefully selected group of active researchers contributing to this work are aiming to give a comprehensive international perspective on and to accelerate the interdisciplinary advance of astrobiology. The interdisciplinary field of astrobiology constitutes a joint arena where provocative discoveries are coalescing concerning, e.g. the prevalence of exoplanets, the diversity and hardiness of life, and its chances for emergence. Biologists, astrophysicists, (bio)-chemists, geoscientists and space scientists share this exciting mission of revealing the origin and commonality of life in the Universe. With its overview articles and its definitions the Encyclopedia of Astrobiology not only provides a common language and understanding for the members of the different disciplines but also serves for educating a new generation of young astrobiologists who are no longer separated by the jargon of individual scientific disciplines. This new edition offers ~170 new entries. More than half of the existing entries were updated, expanded or supplemented with figures supporting the understanding of the text. Especially in the fields of astrochemistry and terrestrial extremophiles but also in exoplanets and space sciences in general there is a huge body of new results that have been taken into account in this new edition. Because the entries in the Encyclopedia are in alphabetical order without regard for scientific field, this edition includes a section “Astrobiology by Discipline” which lists the entries by scientific field and subfield. This should be particularly helpful to those enquiring about astrobiology, as it illustrates the broad and detailed nature of the field.




Night Vision


Book Description

Drawing on exciting discoveries of the last forty years, Night Vision explores how infrared astronomy, an essential tool for modern astrophysics and cosmology, helps astronomers reveal our Universe's most fascinating phenomena – from the birth of stars in dense clouds of gas to black holes and distant colliding galaxies and the traffic of interstellar dust from the formation of our Solar System. While surveying the progress in infrared observation, astronomer Michael Rowan-Robinson introduces readers to the pioneering scientists and engineers who painstakingly developed infrared astronomy over the past two hundred years. Accessible and well illustrated, this comprehensive volume is written for the interested science reader, amateur astronomer or university student, while researchers in astronomy and the history of science will find Rowan-Robinson's detailed notes and references a valuable resource.




ISO Science Legacy


Book Description

Stars are born and die in clouds of gas and dust, opaque to most types of radiation, but transparent in the infrared. Requiring complex detectors, space missions and cooled telescopes, infrared astronomy is the last branch of this discipline to come of age. After a very successful sky survey performed in the eighties by the IRAS satellite, the Infrared Space Observatory, in the nineties, brought spectacular advances in the understanding of the processes giving rise to powerful infrared emission by a great variety of celestial sources. Outstanding results have been obtained on the bright comet Hale-Bopp, and in particular of its water spectrum, as well as on the formation, chemistry and dynamics of planetary objects in the solar system. Ideas on the early stages of stellar formation and on the stellar initial mass function have been clarified. ISO is the first facility in space able to provide a systematic diagnosis of the physical phenomena and the chemistry in the close environment of pre-main sequence stars, in the interstellar medium, and in the final stages of stellar life, using, among other indicators, molecular hydrogen, ubiquitous crystalline silicates, water and ices. ISO has dramatically increased our ability to investigate the power production, excitation and fuelling mechanism of galaxies of every type, and has discovered a new very cold dust component in galaxies. ISO has demonstrated that luminous infrared galaxies were brighter and much more numerous in the past, and that they played a dominant role in shaping present day galaxies and in producing the cosmic infrared background.




The Impact of Space Experiments on Our Knowledge of the Physics of the Universe


Book Description

Space experiments have opened practically all electromagnetic windows on the Universe. A discussion of the most important results obtained with multi-frequency photonic astrophysics experiments will provide new input to advance our knowledge of physics, very often in its more extreme conditions. A multitude of high quality data across the whole electromagnetic spectrum came at the scientific community's disposal a few years after the beginning of the Space Era. With these data we are attempting to explain the physics governing the Universe and its origin, which continues to be a matter of the greatest curiosity for humanity. In this book we describe the latest steps of the investigations born with the advent of space experiments. We highlight the most important results, identify unsolved problems, and comment on perspectives we can reasonably expect. This book aims to provide a useful tool for the reader who is not specialized in space astrophysics and for students. Therefore, the book is written in the form of a review with a still reasonable length, taking into account the complexity of the arguments discussed. We do not claim to present a complete picture of the physics governing the Universe, but have rather selected particular topics for a more thorough discussion. A cross section of essays on historical, modern, and philosophical topics is offered and combined with personal views into tricks of the space astrophysics trade.




Astrochemistry


Book Description

Ever wondered if the chemical processes taking place in space could be related to the origins of life? The authors of this book, both experienced astrochemists, embark on a discussion to find the answers to this question and more, and include a general introduction to astrochemistry for chemistry students. They explore chemistry occurring in the universe from its very early beginnings until the present era. Based on our current understanding, astrochemistry is known to occur in interstellar gas, on dust grains and in interstellar ices, in stellar atmospheres and envelopes, in dense star- and planet-forming regions, and on planets and other bodies in planetary systems. Recent observational discoveries supported by remarkable laboratory work emphasize chemical complexity, leading to answers to the tantalizing question: can this complexity be related to the origin of life? This book provides the tools to enable chemistry students to make their own computational investigations of astrochemistry and directs study across the chemical sciences and astronomy. Concentrating on fundamental processes, this book is a useful teaching aid.




Physics Briefs


Book Description




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