Publisher's Synopsis
The study of astrochemistry has become an important branch of modern astronomy and astrophysics. Molecules are key tools in exploring topics such as star and planet formation, the origin and evolution of interstellar dust grains, the structure of the interstellar medium in galaxies, and the origin of protogalaxies in the early Universe. This volume contains review papers alongside the latest results in the fast-growing discipline of astrochemistry, bringing together contributions from observers, modellers and laboratory astrochemists. It reports results from new observational facilities, such as the Herschel Space Observatory, ALMA, NOEMA, Rosetta and SOFIA, which are leading to new research areas such as the habitability of exoplanets, the origin of prebiotic chemistry and astrobiology. Interleaved with these observation results is the recent, ground-breaking work of physical chemists and numerical modellers, which provides the fundamental theoretical descriptions required to explain the molecular Universe.
