Harvard University

*Astronomy 208. The Physics of the Interstellar Medium

Catalog Number: 4842
Alyssa A. Goodman
half course (fall term)
XIII,XIV
Tu., Th., 11-12:30.

The Interstellar Medium [ISM] of our own and other galaxies, as well as the Intergalactic Medium will be discussed, with the greatest emphasis on the Milky Way's ISM. Various physically distinct regions will be investigated, including cold neutral gas, hot ionized gas, photon-dominated regions, high-velocity clouds, and galactic nuclei. Star-forming clouds, and supernova remnants will be addressed in detail, as will the interaction of stellar winds with the ISM. The goal of the course will be an understanding of how to measure, understand, and predict the conditions (i.e., temperature, density, chemical composition, ionization state, magnetic field, velocity distribution) of the gas and dust in interstellar material, and to understand the role of the interstellar material in galaxies and the universe. Note: To be omitted in 1997-98.

The Syllabus for this course is available as a PDF file.

The FINAL EXAM for the course is available as either a PDF file or a Postcript File.

A very good summary of the course can be found in the hypertext Reading List for Astronomy 208, which contains links to on-line abstracts, and sometimes the full text, of relevant materials.


Schedule of Lectures, Journal Article Discussions and Guest Lectures (includes LINKS to scanned class notes)

Class Notes, Indexed by Date and Page Number


Problem Sets and Solutions (See 1998 site)

Students who Attended AY208 in 1996-97

Some of the IMAGES USED in Lectures, Indexed by Title


NOTES RELEVANT TO SPECIFIC CLASS MEETINGS:

  1. 9/17/96: The first meeting of AY208 has its own Web page, accessible here. Course notes from the first meeting, and all subsequent meetings are available here.
  2. 9/19/96: Students will select the Journal article about which they will lead a discussion later in the term. The students names corresponding to each article will be added to the Reading List .
  3. 10/17/96: Presentation of Pound & Goodman 1996 article on the Kinematics of the Ursa Major Cloud Complex: Web-link to the paper & figures can be found here.
  4. 11/5/96: A visually-oriented companion to the discussion of H II regions can be found here.
  5. 12/10/96: A full y linked-up html version of this lecture on the ISM in external galaxies can be found here. 

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This page last updated on 12/23/96.