Far Out, going for hundreds of AU |
Far Out, going for hundreds of AU |
Jan 10 2006, 03:33 AM
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#16
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2454 Joined: 8-July 05 From: NGC 5907 Member No.: 430 |
Paper: astro-ph/0601117
Date: Fri, 6 Jan 2006 00:20:29 GMT (57kb) Title: The Local Interstellar Medium Authors: Seth Redfield (University of Texas at Austin) Comments: 15 pages, 2 figures; to appear in ASP conference proceedings of "Frank N. Bash Symposium 2005: New Horizons in Astronomy" \\ The Local Interstellar Medium (LISM) is a unique environment that presents an opportunity to study general interstellar phenomena in great detail and in three dimensions. In particular, high resolution optical and ultraviolet spectroscopy have proven to be powerful tools for addressing fundamental questions concerning the physical conditions and three-dimensional (3D) morphology of this local material. After reviewing our current understanding of the structure of gas in the solar neighborhood, I will discuss the influence that the LISM can have on stellar and planetary systems, including LISM dust deposition onto planetary atmospheres and the modulation of galactic cosmic rays through the astrosphere - the balancing interface between the outward pressure of the magnetized stellar wind and the inward pressure of the surrounding interstellar medium. On Earth, galactic cosmic rays may play a role as contributors to ozone layer chemistry, planetary electrical discharge frequency, biological mutation rates, and climate. Since the LISM shares the same volume as practically all known extrasolar planets, the prototypical debris disks systems, and nearby low-mass star-formation sites, it will be important to understand the structures of the LISM and how they may influence planetary atmospheres. \\ ( http://arXiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0601117 , 57kb) -------------------- "After having some business dealings with men, I am occasionally chagrined,
and feel as if I had done some wrong, and it is hard to forget the ugly circumstance. I see that such intercourse long continued would make one thoroughly prosaic, hard, and coarse. But the longest intercourse with Nature, though in her rudest moods, does not thus harden and make coarse. A hard, sensible man whom we liken to a rock is indeed much harder than a rock. From hard, coarse, insensible men with whom I have no sympathy, I go to commune with the rocks, whose hearts are comparatively soft." - Henry David Thoreau, November 15, 1853 |
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