Willem Wamsteker

Ana I. Gómez de Castro

Modern astrophysics is a mature science that has evolved from its early phase of discovery and classification to a physics-oriented discipline focused on finding answers to fundamental problems ranging from cosmology to the origin and diversity of life-sustainable systems in the Universe. For this very reason, progress of modern astrophysics requires access to the electromagnetic spectrum in the broadest energy range. The Ultraviolet is a fundamental energy domain since it is one of the most powerful tools to study plasmas at temperatures in the 3,000-300,000~K range as well as electronic transitions of the most abundant molecules in the Universe. Moreover, the UV radiation field is a powerful astrochemical and photoionizing agent. This book describes the fundamental problems in modern astrophysics that cannot progress without easy and wide-spread access to modern UV instrumentation.

Fundamental Questions in Astrophysics: Guidelines for Future UV Observatories

Hans J. Haubold

Rudolf Albrecht

? J. Andersen Niels Bohr Institute for Astronomy Physics and Geophysics Astronomical Observatory Copenhagen ja@astro.ku.dk The development of astronomy worldwide begins at the roots: Already from childhood, humans of all nations and civilizations seem to share an innate fascination with the sky. Yet, people in different regions of the world have vastly different possibilities for pursuing this interest. In wealthy, industrialised societies the way is open to a school or higher education in science, possibly leading to a career in astronomy or basic or applied space science for the benefit of the country as well as the individual. In other regions, neither the financial nor the trained human resources are sufficient to offer that avenue to the future of the young generation, or those intellectual resources to the development of their country. This book addresses ways and means by which these obstacles can be, if not fully overcome, then at least significantly reduced.

A Decade of UN/ESA Workshops

Developing Basic Space Science World-Wide

C. de Jager

Y. Kondo

A. Boggess

M. Grewing

A.L. Lane

Jeffrey L. Linsky

R. Wilson

This book was conceived to commemorate the continuing success of the guest observer program for the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) satellite observatory. It is also hoped that this volume will serve as a useful tutorial for those pursuing research in related fields with future space observatories. As the IUE has been the product of the three-way collaboration between the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), European Space Agency (ESA) and the British Engineering and Research Council (SERC), so is this book the fruit of the collaboration of the American and European participants in the IUE. As such, it is a testimony to timely international cooperation and sharing of resources that open up new possibilities. The IUE spacecraft was launched on the 26th of January in 1978 into a geosynchronous orbit over the Atlantic Ocean. The scientific operations of the IUE are performed for 16 hours a day from Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, U.S.A, and for 8 hours a day from ESA Villafranca Satellite Tracking Station near Madrid, Spain.

Exploring the Universe with the IUE Satellite

This book brings together the historical activities, the plans which have been developed over the past decade in the different nations, and the results which have materialized during this time in different developing nations. It aims to achieve for development agencies to be assisted in ways to find more effective tools for the application of development aid. The last section of the book contains a guide for teachers to introduce astrophysics into university physics courses. This will be of use to teachers in many nations.

Willem Wamsteker

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