The interstellar medium: from molecules to star formation

S. PARON

Malargüe

Congreso; 60 Reunión Anual de la Asociación Argentina de Astronomá; 2017

The interstellar medium (ISM) is a very complex medium which containsthe matter needed to form stars and planets. The ISM is in permanentinteraction with radiation, turbulence, magnetic and gravitationalfields, and accelerated particles. Everything that happens in thismedium has consequences on the dynamics and evolution of the Galaxy,resulting the link that relates the stellar scale with the galactic one.Thus, the study of the ISM is crucial to advance in the knowledge ofstellar and galactic astrophysics. In this article I present a summaryof what we know about the physics and chemistry of this medium, givingan special emphasis on star formation, and how the processes related tothe stars birth and evolution interrelate with the environment thatsurrounds them.