Interstellar Medium 2024-2025 IIa


Lecturer: Prof. dr. Karina Caputi


Teaching Assistants: Rafael Navarro-Carrera, Ryan Cooper and Abigail Tumborang


Lectures and tutorials will be held in different buildings/rooms -- see below (ref. BB: Bernoulliborg; DS: Donald Smitzaal; KB: Kapteynborg; FBG: Feringaborg).



This course will consist of a series of lectures, whose slides will progressively be posted here, as well as tutorial sessions.

The final grade of the course will be based on two assignments (30%) and a final exam (70%). The assignments correspond to Problem Sets 3 and 5. A minimum grade of 5 (five) is necessary in each assignment in order to be able to take the final exam and/or resit. A minimum grade of 5 is also necessary in the final exam (resit) to pass the course.


The assignments should be done in pairs. Students must upload their fully developed solutions in Brightspace by the specified deadlines (one solution set per pair is enough). If you upload a scan of handwritten solutions, please make sure that it is tidy and legible, otherwise it will not be marked.


The final exam (tentamen) will be based on the content of the lectures, including both the .pdf files provided below and any additional material given, as well as all problem sets.

The final exam will be taken in the Kapteynborg (room 161) on two dates Fridays 4 & 11 April 2025 at 15:00-17:00 and 14:30-16:30, respectively. Each student should choose only one of these dates. The resit exam will be taken on Monday 23 June 2025 at 09:00-11:00 (Kapteynborg, room 161).

The final exam/resit are individual. Neither lecture slides nor books will be allowed. The only permitted material are an electronic calculator and a hand-written set of 2x two-sided A4 sheets (total 4 pages), containing a summary of the course. Each student should prepare their own summary set. The interchange of any material during the exam is strictly forbidden.







Week  Date  Time  Room  Slot  Content 
6 05.02.2025 09:00-11:00 BB 5161.0105 Lecture 1 Introduction & Review of Relevant Physical Concepts
06.02.2025 11:00-13:00 DS 5431.0053 Lecture 2 Spectral Lines & Interstellar Radiation Fields
7 12.02.2025 09:00-11:00 BB 5161.0105 Lecture 3 Basics of Radiative Transfer
12.02.2025 13:00-15:00 KB 5419.0161 Tutorial (group A) Problem Sets 1-2
13.02.2025 09:00-11:00 FBG 5616.0125 Tutorial (group B) Problem Set 1-2
13.02.2025 11:00-13:00 DS 5431.0053 Lecture 4 Heating and Cooling in the ISM
8 19.02.2025 09:00-11:00 BB 5161.0105 Lecture 5 HII Regions - part 1
19.02.2025 13:00-15:00 KB 5419.0161 Tutorial (group A) Problem Set 3
20.02.2025 09:00-11:00 FBG 5616.0125 Tutorial (group B) Problem Set 3
20.02.2025 11:00-13:00 DS 5431.0053 Lecture 6 Extragalactic ISM Studies (Guest lecturer: Dr. Guillaume Desprez)
9 26.02.2025 09:00-11:00 BB 5161.0105 Lecture 7 HII Regions - part 2
26.02.2025 13:00-15:00 KB 5419.0161 Tutorial (group A) Problem Set 3 (cont.)
27.02.2025 09:00-11:00 FBG 5616.0125 Tutorial (group B) Problem Set 3 (cont.)
28.02.2025 11:00-13:00 DS 5431.0053 Lecture 8 Interstellar Dust - part 1
05.03.2025 13:00-15:00 KB 5419.0161 Tutorial (group A) Problem Set 4
06.03.2025 09:00-11:00 FBG 5616.0125 Tutorial (group B) Problem Set 4
06.03.2025 11:00-13:00 DS 5431.0053 Lecture 9 Interstellar Dust - part 2
11 12.03.2025 09:00-11:00 BB 5161.0105 Lecture 10 Molecular Clouds
12.03.2025 13:00-15:00 KB 5419.0161 Tutorial (group A) Problem Set 5
13.03.2025 09:00-11:00 FBG 5616.0125 Tutorial (group B) Problem Set 5
13.03.2025 11:00-13:00 KB 5119.0161 Lecture 11 Recap Lecture
12 19.03.2025 09:00-11:00 BB 5161.0105 Lecture 12 New Results on ISM studies
19.03.2025 13:00-15:00 KB 5419.0161 Tutorial (group A) Problem Set 5 (cont.)
20.03.2025 09:00-11:00 FBG 5616.0125 Tutorial (group B) Problem Set 5 (cont.)
20.03.2025 11:00-13:00 KB 5119.0161 Lecture 13 Mock Exam Discussion
13 26.03.2025 13:00-15:00 KB 5419.0161 Tutorial (group A) Problem Set 6
27.03.2025 09:00-11:00 FBG 5616.0125 Tutorial (group B) Problem Set 6
28.03.2025 13:00-15:00 DS 5431.0053 Lecture 14 Pre-Exam Consultation





Recommended (only suggested, not mandatory) bibliography:

* Maciel, W. , Astrophysics of the Interstellar Medium , Springer. ISBN: 978-1489996916.
* Draine, B. T. , Physics of the Interstellar and Intergalactic Medium. Princeton University Press. ISBN: 978-0691122144.