Astrophysics of the Interstellar Medium PDF
Preview Astrophysics of the Interstellar Medium
Walter J. Maciel Astrophysics of the Interstellar Medium Astrophysics of the Interstellar Medium Walter J. Maciel Astrophysics of the Interstellar Medium Translated by Margarida Serote Roos WalterJ.Maciel DepartamentodeAstronomiaIAG/USP CidadeUniversitaria Sa˜oPaulo,Brazil ISBN978-1-4614-3766-6 ISBN978-1-4614-3767-3(eBook) DOI10.1007/978-1-4614-3767-3 SpringerNewYorkHeidelbergDordrechtLondon LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2012952270 #SpringerScience+BusinessMediaNewYork2013 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpart of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation,broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,andtransmissionor informationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilar methodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped.Exemptedfromthislegalreservationarebriefexcerpts inconnectionwithreviewsorscholarlyanalysisormaterialsuppliedspecificallyforthepurposeofbeing enteredandexecutedonacomputersystem,forexclusiveusebythepurchaserofthework.Duplication ofthispublicationorpartsthereofispermittedonlyundertheprovisionsoftheCopyrightLawofthe Publisher’s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer.PermissionsforusemaybeobtainedthroughRightsLinkattheCopyrightClearanceCenter. ViolationsareliabletoprosecutionundertherespectiveCopyrightLaw. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexempt fromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication,neithertheauthorsnortheeditorsnorthepublishercanacceptanylegalresponsibilityfor anyerrorsoromissionsthatmaybemade.Thepublishermakesnowarranty,expressorimplied,with respecttothematerialcontainedherein. Printedonacid-freepaper SpringerispartofSpringerScience+BusinessMedia(www.springer.com) qui dat nivem sicut lanam nebulam sicut cinerem spargit Psalm 147, 16 “Hespreadsthesnowlikewoolandscatters the frost like ashes” Tothe memory of my father Preface Inthespacebetweenthestars,thereisalargediversityofobjects,wherefundamental physicalprocessesforgalaxystructureandevolutionaretakingplace.Thisbookaims todescribethemainprocessesand to give,besides asimpledescription,numerical estimatesofthemostrelevantquantitiesforinterstellarastrophysics. The principal objects that permeate the interstellar regions are described and analyzedaccordingtotheirphysicalproperties,butthemainfocusofthebookare thephysicalprocessestaking placewithinthese objects.Theseprocessescan also occur in other astrophysical contexts, such as stellar physics, galactic astronomy, andinregionslikeactivegalacticnuclei.Forthisreason,thebook,besidesbeingan introductioncourseonastrophysicsoftheinterstellarmedium,mayalsobeauseful tool for students of astrophysics and researchers interested in these fields of knowledge. The text ofthis book is based on lecture notes of the postgraduation course on interstellar medium that has been lectured by the Astronomy Department of the Astronomical and Geophysical Institute, Sa˜o Paulo University, for about twenty years. Themain partofthecourseisfound inChaps. 2to11,wherethe principal physicalprocessesinvolvedaredescribed.Thereisnot—yet—ageneraltheoryfor theinterstellarmedium;thus,thevariousprocessesstillrepresentopenproblemsin thisareaofexpertise,forwhichanswersarepresentlybeingsought. Theunitsusedinastrophysicsaredeeplyembeddedineverydaylife,makingthe full use of a system such as the International System of Units (SI) virtually impossible. Besides some unusual units, like the parsec, the stellar magnitudes, andthesolarunits,wemainlyusethecgssystemcomplementedwithatomicunits, such as electron volt (eV) and a˚ngstro¨m (A˚). In this book, we maintain the traditionalunits,theonesthereaderwillfindineveryspecializedpaper.However, in the end, we provide a table with the principal physical and astronomical constantsintheirusualunitsandalsoconvertedtoSIunits.Forabettermemoriza- tionofthenumericalvaluesofthemostimportantquantities,eachchapterincludes someexercises,whichmustbetakenasintegralpartsofthetext.Thereisalsobasic bibliographyforeachchapter,wherethereaderwillfindawidevarietyofmaterials foramoredetailedstudy. vii viii Preface This work was made possible thanks to the collaboration and support of many peopletowhomIamgreatlyindebted:ProfessorsJose´AntoˆniodeFreitasPacheco, SaydCodina,JeanLefe`vre,andStuartPottasch,forthepostgraduationcoursesthat weretheheartofthismanuscript;BeatrizBarbuyandJacquesLe´pinewho,asheads ofdepartment,supportedthedistributionofthefirstversionsofthiswork,whichis an essential step for the establishment of the text presented in this manuscript; RobertoCosta,whoprovidedthespectrumofNGC2346;RodrigoPratesCampos, forimagesofNGC4594,andOrionNebula;S´ılviaLorenz,forthedataandmodel ofstarAFGL1141;GilbertoSanzovowhocommentedonChapter10;andfinally Ruth Gruenwald, for her careful reading of the whole manuscript and her helpful suggestions and corrections. Naturally, all errors and omissions that may have remainedaremyownresponsibility. Sa˜oPaulo,Brazil WalterJ.Maciel About the Author Walter Junqueira Maciel was born in Cruz´ılia, MG, Brazil. He graduated in Physics at UFMG (Minas Gerais Federal University), in Belo Horizonte, and obtainedamaster’sdegreeatITA(AeronauticsTechnologicalInstitute),Sa˜oJose´ dos Campos, and a PhD at Sa˜o Paulo University. He did several internships in Groningen,theNetherlands,andinHeidelberg,Germany.Heisafullprofessorin the Astronomy Department at the Astronomical and Geophysical Institute, Sa˜o Paulo University, where he has been working since 1974. He was the head of department between 1992 and 1994. He has published over a hundred scientific papers in international journals and around fifty papers (science, education, and outreach)innationaljournals.Heistheauthorofthebook“IntroductiontoStellar StructureandEvolution”(Edusp,1999),whichwontheJabutiPrizein2000inthe fieldofexactsciences,technology,andcomputersciencesandofthebookHydro- dynamicsandstellarwinds:anintroduction(Edusp,2005). ix
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