The hydrogen Lyman-alpha line is of utmost importance to many fields of astrophysics. This UV line being conveniently redshifted with distance to the visible and even near infrared wavelength ranges, it is observable from the ground, and provides the main observational window on the formation and evolution of high redshift galaxies. Absorbing systems that would otherwise go unnoticed are revealed through the Lyman-alpha forest, Lyman-limit, and damped Lyman-alpha systems, tracing the distribution of baryonic matter on large scales, and its chemical enrichment. We are living an exciting epoch with the advent of new instruments and facilities, on board of satellites and on the ground. Wide field and very sensitive integral field spectrographs are becoming available on the ground, such as MUSE at the ESO VLT. The giant E-ELT and TMT telescopes will foster a quantum leap in sensitivity and both spatial and spectroscopic resolution, to the point of being able, perhaps, to measure directly the acceleration of the Hubble flow. In space, the JWST will open new possibilities to study the Lyman-alpha emission of primordial galaxies in the near infrared. As long as the Hubble Space Telescope will remain available, the UV-restframe properties of nearby galaxies will be accessible to our knowledge. Therefore, this Saas-Fee course appears very timely and should meet the interest of many young researchers.

In Origins of Life Volume II, life and its origin are inspected from traditional and unexpected points of view. The book takes an interdisciplinary approach, discussing astrobiology; chemical evolution; and how the Universe accommodates life, molecular biology, and philosophy. It is an open-minded approach, fully referenced throughout, and each chapter includes a further reading section for anyone wishing to learn more about that perspective on the origins of life. First, everything started, with the Big Bang, from nothing. It appears now that everything was aiming toward our existence, some 13.75 × 109 years later, being capable of understanding it all. We did it using powerful tools: science, philosophy, and religion. Although we appreciate the contributions made by philosophy and religion, our contemplations and doubts are based on the plentiful scientific evidence provided. The reader will be guided from make-up of the "life stage" (Universe), tools and materials needed for the living matter to be formed in the small part of the Universe, which one could call Human Neighborhood, or the Local Universe. It contains galaxies, galaxy clusters, and voids, and the Milky Way and its satellites influencing each other during this time span. The book is easy to read, accompanied by numerous references; it could be of use to the expert in the field as well as for curious minds with a scientific, philosophical, or religious background.

Most of the matter in the universe consists of hydrogen. The hydrogen in the intergalactic medium (IGM), the matter between the galaxies, underwent a change of its ionisation state at the epoch of reionisation, at a redshift roughly between 6>z>10, or ~10^8 years after the Big Bang. At this time, the mostly neutral hydrogen in the IGM was ionised but the source of the responsible hydrogen ionising emission remains unclear. In this thesis I discuss the most likely candidates for the emission of this ionising radiation, which are a type of galaxy called Lyman alpha emitters (LAEs). As implied by their name, they emit Lyman alpha radiation, produced after a hydrogen atom has been ionised and recombines with a free electron. The ionising radiation itself (also called Lyman continuum emission) which is needed for this process inside the LAEs could also be responsible for ionising the IGM around those galaxies at the epoch of reionisation, given that enough Lyman continuum escapes. Through this mechanism, Lyman alpha and Lyman continuum ...

This second edition has been updated and substantially expanded. Starting with the description of our home galaxy, the Milky Way, this cogently written textbook introduces the reader to the astronomy of galaxies, their structure, active galactic nuclei, evolution and large scale distribution in the Universe. After an extensive and thorough introduction to modern observational and theoretical cosmology, the focus turns to the formation of structures and astronomical objects in the early Universe. The basics of classical astronomy and stellar astrophysics needed for extragalactic astronomy are provided in the appendix. While this book has grown out of introductory university courses on astronomy and astrophysics and includes a set of problems and solutions, it will not only benefit undergraduate students and lecturers; thanks to the comprehensive coverage of the field, even graduate students and researchers specializing in related fields will appreciate it as a valuable reference work.