Interstellar Space

Oftentimes in astronomy, people mainly focus on the structures of bodies like moons, stars, and planets but fail to appreciate what occurs between them. We usually assume that space is a pure vacuum -- there is assumed to be no matter between astronomical objects-- and usually that approximation is fair. However, in reality, this is simply not the case. There are many objects that traverse the universe between large bodies and they can have significant effects on the observational capabilities of scientists. This unit will discuss some of the phenomena that occur due to and within the space between astronomical bodies.

Here are the topics for this unit:

Interstellar Medium

Stellar Extinction

Comets

Meteorites