27220 - Atoms and Molecules in the Cosmos

Academic Year 2022/2023

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Astronomy (cod. 8004)

Learning outcomes

The students learn: 1) to predict, on the basis of the photophysical and thermodynamical conditions of the different astronomical scenarios, the expected processes of molecular formation and disctruction and their kinetics; 2) to predict, on the basis of the energy diagrams of atoms, ions, and simple molecules, the spectral activity in the cosmic laboratory.

Course contents

  • Interstellar medium
  • Interstellar chemistry
  • Molecular rotational and vibrational spectroscopy
  • Millimetre astronomy
  • Use of molecular signals in astrophysics

Readings/Bibliography

  • Lecture notes.
  • J. M. Brown, Molecular Spectroscopy, Oxford University Press, 1998.
  • T.W. Hartquist & D.A. Williams, The Chemically Controlled Cosmos, Cambridge University Press, 1995.
  • D.A. Williams & T.W. Hartquist, The Cosmic-Chemical Bond, RSC Publishing, 2013.
  • D.A. Williams & S. Viti, Observational Molecular Astronomy, Cambridge University Press, 2013.
  • C. Vallance, Astrochemistry, World Scientific, 2016.
  • S. Yamamoto, Introduction to Astrochemistry, Springer, 2017.
  • T. Wilson, K. Rohlfs, S. Hüttermeister, Tools of Radio Astronomy, Springer, 2013.

Teaching methods

Classes are organized as lectures in the classroom, and computational exercises.

Assessment methods

Learning assessment is evaluated only by means of the final examination. This aims at verifying the student's knowledge and skills by means of an oral exam, where the student presents a short thesis and replies to questions concerning the course contents.

Teaching tools

Video projector, notebook, blackboard.

Office hours

See the website of Luca Bizzocchi