Chemical Abundances In The Universe

Session I : Primordial nucleosynthesis and the first stars in the Universe -- Session II : First stars in the Galaxy -- Session III : Chemical abundances in the high red-shift Universe -- Session IV : Chemical abundance constraints on mass assembly and star formation in local galaxies and the Milky Way -- Session V : Extrasolar planets: the chemical abundance connection -- Session VI : Abundance surveys and projects in the era of future large telescopes.

IAU Symposium 265 presents a unified picture of nucleosynthesis, the production of chemical elements over cosmic time. It explains how this chemical evolution links together the early Universe of the first stars, through the formation of galaxies and their diverse populations of stars, to a Universe of heavy-element rich stars and planets. The first generation of massive stars that drove reionization left their chemical signatures imprinted in the oldest low-mass stars, which we observe today. Chemical evolution is a broad, diverse and rapidly evolving field, due to the ever-expanding capabilities delivered by new arrays of instruments on large telescopes, together with significant advances in modelling and increasing access to large and accurate nuclear, atomic, and molecular databases. Written for researchers and graduate students, the topics covered in this volume provide a comprehensive overview of the scientific progress achieved in recent years.

Introducing astrochemistry to a wide audience, this book describes how molecules formed in chemical reactions occur in a range of environments in interstellar and circumstellar space, from shortly after the Big Bang up to the present epoch. Stressing that chemistry in these environments needs to be driven, it helps identify these drivers and the various chemical networks that operate giving rise to signature molecules that enable the physics of the region to be better understood. The book emphasises, in a non-mathematical way, the chemistry of the Milky Way Galaxy and its planet-forming regions, describes how other galaxies may have rather different chemistries and shows how chemistry was important even in the Early Universe when most of the elements had yet to be formed. This book will appeal to anyone with a general interest in chemistry, from students to professional scientists working in interdisciplinary areas and non-scientists fascinated by the evolving and exciting story of chemistry in the cosmos.

This is volume 5 of Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems, a six-volume compendium of modern astronomical research, covering subjects of key interest to the main fields of contemporary astronomy. This volume on “Galactic Structure and Stellar Populations”, edited by Gerard F. Gilmore, presents accessible review chapters on Stellar Populations, Chemical Abundances as Population Tracers, Metal-Poor Stars and the Chemical Enrichment of the Universe, The Stellar and Sub-Stellar Initial Mass Function of Simple and Composite Populations, The Galactic Nucleus, The Galactic Bulge, Open Clusters and Their Role in the Galaxy, Star Counts and the Nature of Galactic Thick Disk, The Infrared Galaxy, Interstellar PAHs and Dust, Galactic Neutral Hydrogen, High-Velocity Clouds, Magnetic Fields in Galaxies, Astrophysics of Galactic Charged Cosmic Rays, Gamma-Ray Emission of Supernova Remnants and the Origin of Galactic Cosmic Rays, Galactic Distance Scales, Globular Cluster Dynamical Evolution, Dynamics of Disks and Warps, Mass Distribution and Rotation Curve in the Galaxy, Dark Matter in the Galactic Dwarf Spheroidal Satellites, and History of Dark Matter in Galaxies. All chapters of the handbook were written by practicing professionals. They include sufficient background material and references to the current literature to allow readers to learn enough about a specialty within astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology to get started on their own practical research projects. In the spirit of the series Stars and Stellar Systems published by Chicago University Press in the 1960s and 1970s, each chapter of Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems can stand on its own as a fundamental review of its respective sub-discipline, and each volume can be used as a textbook or recommended reference work for advanced undergraduate or postgraduate courses. Advanced students and professional astronomers in their roles as both lecturers and researchers will welcome Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems as a comprehensive and pedagogical reference work on astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology.

This proceedings covers topics from chemical abundances in the different components of the Milky Way and in local group galaxies, via observational and theoretical papers on mixing in stars to big bang nucleosynthesis and galaxy formation and evolution. Like all volumes in the series ESO Astrophysics Symposia, this one gives a comprehensive overview of the forefront of research in this subject. It is a valuable reference for both students and researchers.

Here is the first book to provide a complete natural history of the elements. This interdisciplinary guide will give the reader a broad, non-technical view of the origin of the elements, the factors controlling their abundances, and their distributions in the Earth, solar system, and universe. This unique volume is based on a series of lectures given for freshman chemistry students and will be of equal value to both undergraduates and professors in all physical sciences. It includes a broad introduction to the range of existing elements and information on their nuclear and chemical properties, as well as coverage of radioactive elements, the condensation of the elements, the elements of life and the oceans. Valuable appendix materials include coverage of elemental abundances and isotopic composition, while suggestions for further reading are provided at the end of each chapter.

A lucid introduction for advanced undergraduates and graduate students, and an authoritative overview for researchers and professional scientists.

Due to its specific chemical and physical properties, water is essential for life on Earth. And it is assumed that this would be the case for extraterrestrial life as well. Therefore it is important to investigate where water can be found in the Universe. Although there are places that are completely dry, places where the last rainfall happened probably several 100 million years ago, surprisingly this substance is quite omnipresent. In the outer solar system the large satellites of Jupiter and Saturn are covered by a thick layer of ice that could be hiding a liquid ocean below. This of course brings up the question of whether the recently detected extrasolar planets could have some water on their surfaces and how we can detect this. Water molecules are also found in interstellar gas and dust clouds. This book begins with an introductory chapter reviewing the physical and chemical properties of water. Then it illuminates the apparent connection between water and life. This is followed by chapters dealing with our current knowledge of water in the solar system, followed by a discussion concerning the potential presence and possible detection of water on exoplanets. The signature of water in interstellar space and stars are reviewed before the origin of water in the Universe is finally discussed. The book ends with an appendix on detection methods, satellite missions and astrophysical concepts touched upon in the main parts of the book. The search for water in the Universe is related to the search for extraterrestrial life and is of fundamental importance for astrophysics, astrobiology and other related topics. This book therefore addresses students and researchers in these fields.