Laboratory Astrophysics Iau S350

Laboratory astrophysics is the Rosetta Stone that enables astronomers to understand and interpret the distant cosmos. It provides the tools to interpret and guide astronomical observations and delivers the numbers needed to quantitatively model the processes taking place in space, providing a bridge between observers and modelers. IAU Symposium 350 was organized by the International Astronomical Union's Laboratory Astrophysics Commission (B5), and was the first topical symposium on laboratory astrophysics sponsored by the IAU. Active researchers in observational astronomy, space missions, experimental and theoretical laboratory astrophysics, and astrochemistry discuss the topics and challenges facing astronomy today. Five major topics are covered, spanning from star- and planet-formation through stellar populations to extragalactic chemistry and dark matter. Within each topic, the main themes of laboratory studies, astronomical observations, and theoretical modeling are explored, demonstrating the breadth and the plurality of disciplines engaged in the growing field of laboratory astrophysics.

The importance of connecting astrophysical theory, observations, simulations and laboratory astrophysics is nowadays widely appreciated by the scientific community. IAU Symposium 274 discusses recent observational, theoretical and experimental efforts in understanding the basic plasma processes in the Universe at all scales, from the primordial plasmas of the early Universe to stellar and laboratory plasmas. Experts from different fields examine topics including: the origin and dynamics of magnetic fields in astrophysical systems (the dynamo problem); the origin of x-ray emitting coronas and the role of magnetic reconnection; the acceleration of charged particles; winds and jets from highly-evolved stars and supernova remnants; plasma radiation processes; turbulence of the magnetized plasma in astrophysical objects and in the ISM, IGM and the solar wind; quantum plasmas under extreme conditions in planetary interiors and in exotic stars; and many other key problems in modern plasma astrophysics.

This volume describes the current state of the art in research aimed at unraveling the carriers of the enigmatic diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs). The DIBs are a set of hundreds of absorption bands that are seen from the near-ultraviolet to near-infrared wavelengths. Their interstellar origin is well established, but the precise chemical identity of the DIB carriers remains to date one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in astronomical spectroscopy. These proceedings of IAU Symposium 297 include more than 70 contributions that cover a wide range of topics in observational astronomy and astrophysics; laboratory astrophysics and spectroscopy; astrochemistry; and theoretical, experimental and computational chemistry. This interdisciplinary overview contains all the required background material to make the volume an ideal starting point for researchers and graduate students to learn about the various aspects of DIBs and related topics.

Summarizes state of the art observations and theories pertaining to astrophysical masers and their environments, for graduate students and researchers.

An up-to-date survey of astrochemistry in the early years of the twenty-first century. For researchers and graduate students.

IAU S240 focuses on recent advances across the broad field of binary star research.

Astrometry has historically been fundamental to all the fields of astronomy, driving many revolutionary scientific results. ESA's Gaia mission is astrometrically, photometrically and spectroscopically surveying the full sky, measuring around a billion stars to magnitude 20, to allow stellar distance and age estimations with unprecedented accuracy. With the complement of radial velocities, it will provide the full kinematic information of these targets, while the photometric and spectroscopic data will be used to classify objects and astrophysically characterize stars. IAU Symposium 330 reviews the first 2.5 years of Gaia activities and discusses the scientific results derived from the first Gaia data release (GDR1). This significant increase in the precision of the astrometric measurements has sharpened our view of the Milky Way and the physical processes involved in stellar and galactic evolution. To many, the Gaia revolution heralds a transformation comparable to the impact of the telescope's invention four centuries ago.