Astrochemistry: Recent Successes and Current Challenges (IAU S231)

A rapidly growing interdisciplinary field, astrochemistry is the study of molecules and their chemistry in sources throughout the universe. In IAU S231, astronomers and chemists survey the current state of the field. The contributions in astronomy show how the study of molecules has aided our understanding of the physical conditions in many different types of regions, from the interstellar medium of our own galaxy to the very edge of the Universe. The contributions in laboratory and theoretical chemistry show how much we have learned about these often exotic chemical processes and how much more there is to learn. Suitable for researchers and graduate students in diverse disciplines, this volume will provide a sense both of the scope of astrochemistry in the early years of the twenty-first century and the immense possibilities of this field for future growth.

• Proceedings from conference of the International Astronomical Union
• Presents an up-to-date snapshot of astrochemistry at the beginning of the twenty-first century
• Comprehensive coverage of a wide range of astrophysical environments, from the solar system, through the ISM in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, all the way to the edge of the visible universe
• Interdisciplinary: combines both astronomical and laboratory measurements and should appeal to a wide audience from astrophysicists to astrobiologists, both experimentalists and theorists alike