4. Studies of the Interstellar Medium Near the Sun

Extract

The local interstellar medium was the subject of a meeting held in Madison Wisconsin in June 1984. Much of the discussion centered around the structure of the local interstellar medium (LISM). Results presented at the meeting included observations of the very local interstellar medium within a parsec of the sun probed by spacecraft using backscattered solar radiation (38.131.240, 38.131.241). The diffuse warm gas in the LISM has been explored by a variety of means including various UV and optical absorption lines (38.131.243), chromospheric Lyman α (38.131.245), Mg I and Mg II (38.131.246, 38.131.247, 38.131.248, 38.131.249, 39.131.004), Hα emission (38.131.254) and Na (38.131.255, 38.131.256, 38.131.257). Other probes of the diffuse gas come from hot DA dwarfs (38.131.253), EUV and continuum absorption (38.131.263), observations of β Canis Majoris (38.131.250), and HI and radiocontinuum observations (38.131.273). The surprising existence of a cold component is inferred from CO observations (38.131.267) and possibly from extinction maps (38.131.258, 38.131.260, 38.131.266). The hot component is seen by means of soft X-rays (38.131.265, 38.131.280), Fe XIV (38.131.264), and OIV lines (38.131.262). An observational overview was presented by York and Frisch (38.131.244) and Cowie presented a theoretical model of the LISM as a supernova remnant (38.131.279).