The mystery of the diffuse interstellar bands has been variously a curiosity, a co nundrum, and a nuisance for astronomers in the seven decades since the features were first noticed, but recently they have become a forefront issue in astrophysics. Ever since Paul Merrill, in a series of papers starting in 1934, pointed out the interstellar and unidentified nature of the bands, a Who's Who of twentieth century astronomers have tried their hands at solving the problem of identifying the carriers. Henry Norris Russell, Pol Swings, Otto Struve, Paul Ledoux, W. W. Morgan, Walter Adams, Jesse Greenstein, Lawrence Aller, and Gerhard Herzberg all briefly entered the stage, only to move on quickly to other problems where the chances for progress appeared more realistic. In more recent times a number of equally prominent scientists have pursued the bands, but generally only as a sideline to their real astronomical research. But in the past decade, and particularly in the past three years, the view of the search for the diffuse band absorbers as an interesting but perhaps quixotic quest has changed. Today there are several astronomers, as well as laboratory chemists, who are devoting substantial research time and resources to the problem and, as perhaps the most reliable indicator of the newly elevated status of research in this field, some research grants have now been awarded for the study of the bands.

This volume describes the current state of the art in research aimed at unraveling the carriers of the enigmatic diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs). The DIBs are a set of hundreds of absorption bands that are seen from the near-ultraviolet to near-infrared wavelengths. Their interstellar origin is well established, but the precise chemical identity of the DIB carriers remains to date one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in astronomical spectroscopy. These proceedings of IAU Symposium 297 include more than 70 contributions that cover a wide range of topics in observational astronomy and astrophysics; laboratory astrophysics and spectroscopy; astrochemistry; and theoretical, experimental and computational chemistry. This interdisciplinary overview contains all the required background material to make the volume an ideal starting point for researchers and graduate students to learn about the various aspects of DIBs and related topics.

Diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) represent a century-old mystery: none of the hundreds of bands could be identified with certainty with a specific carrier, at the very likely exception of the buckminsterfullerene cation C60+. Identifying and quantifying the amount of the large interstellar carbonaceous molecules that are very likely responsible for the DIBs is mandatory: DIB carriers likely represent the largest amount of organic matter in the Universe and are an important piece of the chain of processes that govern the interstellar/stellar cycle.Up to recently, most of the DIB studies have had as a unique goal the identification of the carriers, and to do so have been focusing on a limited number of hot, distant and reddened stars, using increasingly powerful instruments. This thesis marks a turning point in the methods and goals associated with the DIBs, an evolution allowed and motivated by the increasing number of stellar surveys with high multiplex instruments. As a matter of fact, it is possible today to gather massive amounts of data, both from the point of view of the number of target stars and from the point of view of the number of DIBs simultaneously observed. This has opened the way to new types of studies, more ambitious goals, and, importantly, new potential comparisons with laboratory data. This thesis presents a large number of DIB extractions and four of these novel analyses :- Methods of extraction and search for new DIBs.- Statistical studies of the link between DIB strengths and the physical properties of their hosting clouds.- Tomographic studies of the carriers on large and small spatial scales.- Line profile extractions based on carefully selected sightlines, studies of their substructures and spatial variability and subsequent constraints on their potential molecular carriers.

The aim of this book is to present, on the one hand various topics in theoretical physics in depth - especially topics related to electrodynamics - and on the other hand to show how these topics find applications in various aspects of astrophysics. The first text on theoretical physics and astrophysical applications, it covers many recent advances including those in X-ray, &ggr;-ray and radio-astronomy, with comprehensive coverage of the literature

The Dictionary of Geophysics, Astrophysics, and Astronomy provides a lexicon of terminology covering fields such as astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, relativity, geophysics, meteorology, Newtonian physics, and oceanography. Authors and editors often assume - incorrectly - that readers are familiar with all the terms in professional literature. With over 4,000 definitions and 50 contributing authors, this unique comprehensive dictionary helps scientists to use terminology correctly and to understand papers, articles, and books in which physics-related terms appear.