Abstract
This chapter gives a brief introduction on the interstellar medium (ISM). It starts with an overview (Sect. 1.1) of the ISM properties including some worth-mentioning historical events that took place during its discovery and exploration. We then highlight the importance of the dust in ISM (Sect. 1.2) and we give the very basic factors consisting the interstellar radiation field (Sect. 1.3). The importance of photodissociation regions is also addressed (Sect. 1.4) which is one of the key points in understanding the chemistry of the ISM and the star formation process therein. Although there are many factors controlling the thermal balance of the ISM chemistry, we focus on one of them which is cosmic rays (Sect. 1.5). Methods detecting molecular hydrogen are also addressed (Sect. 1.6) and we close this chapter by describing the life cycle of the stars and the ISM (Sect. 1.7).
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Notes
- 1.
The capitalized word Galaxy indicates our galaxy.
- 2.
In the astronomical nomenclature, a heavy element corresponds to anything but hydrogen and helium.
- 3.
The term ‘Mondrian box’ adapted in this book is due to the similarity of Fig. 1.4 with paintings made by Piet Mondrian (1872–1944).
- 4.
European Southern Observatory.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Dr. Padelis Papadopoulos and Dr. Nick Prantzos for the useful discussions. In particular I would like to acknowledge Dr. Papadopoulos for the discussions on cosmic rays and Dr. Prantzos for his great outreach idea to explain what is the fraction of the human body that comes directly from the Big Bang and what is the fraction that has been produced inside stars.
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Bisbas, T.G. (2016). The Interstellar Medium. In: The Interstellar Medium, Expanding Nebulae and Triggered Star Formation. SpringerBriefs in Astronomy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26142-3_1
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