This course combines the ISM topics covered in the pre-1999 AST1540H Galaxies II course and star formation in both the Galaxy and external galaxies.
Course Synopsis:
I. The Interstellar Medium:
- Inventory of the ISM: components , locations, structures, scales.
- Observing the ISM: Emission and Absorption Properties.
- Theory of the ISM: Heating and Cooling, Subsonic and Supersonic Motions, Ionization and Excitation Balance.
- Details: Chemistry, Dust, Magnetic Fields, and Cosmic Rays.
II. Star Formation
- Properties of Star-Forming Clouds: Size, Temperature, Turbulence, Angular momentum, Magnetic Fields.
- Collapse: Gravitational Instability, Pressure Confinement, Magnetic Support
- Protostars: Mass Accretion Rates, Pre-Main Sequence Evolution, Observational Signatures.
- Circumstellar Disks and Outflows: Observational Signatures, Theoretical Models, Formation of Planets, Lifetimes.
- Star formation in external galaxies, issues in the star formation history of the universe.
