The interstellar environment of our galaxy

2001/06/20 by K. Ferrière, Katia M. Ferriere · 16 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #astro-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/revmodphys.73.1031

published as Rev.Mod.Phys.73:1031-1066,2001 · 39 pages, 12 figures (including 3 figures in 2 parts)

arxiv created 2001/06/20 · openalex publication_date 2001/12/05 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

This article reviews the current knowledge and understanding of the interstellar medium of our galaxy. The author first presents each of the three basic constituents---ordinary matter, cosmic rays, and magnetic fields---of the interstellar medium, with emphasis on their physical and chemical properties as inferred from a broad range of observations. The interaction of these interstellar constituents, both with each other and with stars, is then discussed in the framework of the general galactic ecosystem.

Citations

• A composite CO survey of the entire Milky Way
• H I in the Galaxy
• Particle acceleration at astrophysical shocks: A theory of cosmic ray origin
• Final Results from theHubble Space TelescopeKey Project to Measure the Hubble Constant
• The Escape of Ionizing Photons from OB Associations in Disk Galaxies: Radiation Transfer through Superbubbles
• Cosmic Magnetobremsstrahlung (Synchrotron Radiation)
• Dust in the Ionized Medium of the Galaxy: GHRS Measurements of Aliiiand Siii

Cited by

• MAGNETICALLY REGULATED GAS ACCRETION IN HIGH-REDSHIFT GALACTIC DISKS
• The large-scale properties of simulated cosmological magnetic fields
• The Three-Phase Interstellar Medium Revisited
• Abundance of live 244Pu in deep-sea reservoirs on Earth points to rarity of actinide nucleosynthesis
• The Wisconsin Hα Mapper Northern Sky Survey
• The Southern Galactic Plane Survey: Polarized Radio Continuum Observations and Analysis
• Episodic accretion: the interplay of infall and disc instabilities
• Explaining the luminosity spread in young clusters: proto and pre-main sequence stellar evolution in a molecular cloud environment
• Galactic Spiral Shocks with Thermal Instability
• Pressure from dark matter annihilation and the rotation curve of spiral galaxies
• A Statistical Analysis of Point-like Sources in the Chandra Galactic Center Survey
• CLARA’s view on the escape fraction of Lyman α photons in high-redshift galaxies
• A Markov Chain Monte Carlo technique to sample transport and source parameters of Galactic cosmic rays
• Interstellar medium [wikipedia]
• Molecular cloud [wikipedia]
• Outer space [wikipedia]