An Introduction to the Physics of Interstellar Dust

Book excerpt: A concise reference, this book provides overview of interstellar dust and the interstellar medium. Emphasizing and explaining astronomical formulae, it addresses the absorption and scattering of dust, its creation in old stars, as well as emission, cohesion, and electrical charge. The book offers numerous figures displaying basic properties of dust such as optical constants, specific heat, and absorption and scattering coefficients. It introduces radiative transfer in a dusty medium and describes the use of transfer codes. With strong attention to detail, the author facilitates a complete understanding from which to build a more versatile application and manipulation of the information.