München 2004 – scientific programme
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PV: Plenarvorträge
PV XVI
PV XVI: Plenary Talk
Thursday, March 25, 2004, 09:00–09:45, Aula
From molecules to planets: the importance of molecular processes in space — •Ewine F. van Dishoeck — Leiden Observatory, P.O. Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
More than 120 different molecules have been detected in interstellar space, ranging from simple species like H2 and CO to fairly complex organic molecules such as CH3OCH3, C2H5CN and certain classes of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
In this talk, an overview will be given of recent observations of molecules, both in the gas and in the solid state, using new facilities in space and on the ground at optical, infrared and millimeter wavelengths.
The results will be discussed in the context of the gas-phase and gas-grain processes occurring at the extremely low temperatures and densities in space. In addition, the use of molecules to trace the formation of new stars and planetary systems deep inside the dark molecular clouds is illustrated.
The importance of complementary laboratory and
theoretical chemistry studies in emphasized. The prospects for future facilities such as the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, the Herschel Space Observatory, and the James Webb Space Telescope (the successor
of the Hubble Space Telescope) will be discussed.
van Dishoeck et al. 2003, Messenger 113, 49
Pontoppidan et. al. 2003, Astron. Ap. 408, 981
See http://www.strw.leidenuniv.nl/ ewine/e-prints/ for recent papers and reviews.