Researcher and teacher in astronomy & astrophysics
Institut pour la Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie,
9 avenue du Colonel Roche, BP 44346
31028 Toulouse Cedex 4
France
Phone: 00 33 561 557 544
Fax : 00 33 561 556 701
E-mail : cvastel at irap.omp.eu
Année 2023-2024: Master 1, Sciences de l’Univers et technologies Spatiales
- Milieu interstellaire, Cycle de la matière (Master 1)
The "interstellar medium" consists of the gas, dust, cosmic rays, magnetic field, and electromagnetic radiation present in the space between the stars. This course consists of an introduction to the interstellar medium in our own Milky Way galaxy. The physical state of the interstellar medium will be reviewed, and the important physical processes shaping the interstellar medium will be discussed. We will present a few regions in the interstellar medium dependent on the hydrogen states: from the molecular clouds to the diffuse clouds. Emphasis will be placed on developing physical and intuitive understanding of the important physical processes. Modeling of the interstellar regions will be described following the grain surface and gas-phase reactions.
- Introduction to the interstellar medium
Introduction to the interstellar medium: what's in the ISM?
Gas and dust (formation, properties, composition) content.
- Radiative transfer in the interstellar medium
Photons as a vector of information/Electromagnetic spectrum/Telescopes. Energy levels of atoms and molecules. Radiative transfer of the interstellar medium. Emission and absorption of radiation: how to trace the composition of the interstellar medium. Column density measurement and how it is related to the abundances. Use of the CASSIS software (http://cassis.irap.omp.eu/) with ground-based and spatial observations.
- Processes in the interstellar medium
A review of the reactions in the gas phase and on the grain surfaces with a concrete example.
- Textbooks:
The interstellar medium, by J. Lequeux, Springer, 2003
Physics of the Interstellar and Intergalactic Medium, by B.T. Draine, Princeton 2011.
Physics and Chemistry of the Interstellar Medium, by Sun Kwok, University Science Books, 2007.
The Physics and Chemistry of the Interstellar Medium, by A.G.G.M. Tielens, Cambridge, 2005.
The Physics of the Interstellar Medium, 2nd edition, by J.E. Dyson and D.A. Williams, Inst. of Physics, 1997.