We decipher intrinsic three-dimensional shape distributions of molecular clouds, cloud cores, Bok globules, and condensations using recently compiled catalogues of observed axis ratios for these objects mapped in carbon monoxide, ammonia, through optical selection, or in continuum dust emission. We apply statistical techniques to compare assumed intrinsic axis ratio distributions with observed ...

We briefly reviewed some recent progress on the studies of supernova remnants (SNRs), including the radio SNRs (the structure, polarization, spectrum etc.), observational characteristics of X-ray emission, pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe), association properties between SNR and PSR, interaction of SNR and interstellar medium (ISM), cosmos ray and the SNRs in external galaxies, etc.. Correspondingly t...

We confirm and discuss recently discovered cold HI clouds with column densities among the lowest ever detected. The column densities of Cold Neutral Medium (CNM) towards 3C286 and 3C287 are ∼ 10 cm, below an observational lower limit, and also below tiny-scale-atomic clouds detected by VLBI and time-variable profiles against pulsars. These column densities are close to the minimum imposed by th...

Aliphatic hydrocarbons exhibit an absorption feature at 3.4 m, observed toward sources that sample diffuse regions of the interstellar medium (ISM). The absorbers responsible for this feature are assumed to reside in some component of interstellar dust, but the physical nature of the particles (size, shape, structure, etc.) is uncertain. Observations of interstellar polarization provide discrim...

High-resolution absorption measurements ( =D & 100;000) of the resonance lines of Fe ii, Mg ii, and Ca ii are presented for all available observed targets within 100 pc. The Fe ii andMg ii spectra were obtained with the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) instruments aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Of the 63 observations of ta...

In astrophysical situations, e.g. in the interstellar medium (ISM), neutrals can provide viscous damping on scales much larger than the magnetic diffusion scale. Through numerical simulations, we have found that the magnetic field can have a rich structure below the dissipation cutoff scale. This implies that magnetic fields in the ISM can have structures on scales much smaller than parsec scal...

The unprecedented sensitivity of the Spitzer Space Telescope has enabled us for the first time to detect a large sample of Blue Compact Dwarf galaxies (BCDs), which are intrinsically faint in the infrared. In the present paper we present a summary of our findings which providing essential information on the presence/absence of the Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon features in metal-poor environme...

Many early-type galaxies are detected at 24 to 160μm but the emission is usually dominated by an AGN or heating from the evolved stellar population. Here we present MIPS observations of a sample of elliptical and lenticular galaxies which are rich in cold molecular gas, and we investigate how much of the MIR to FIR emission could be due to star formation activity. The 24μm images show a rich va...

Superbubbles that result from the stellar winds and supernovae of OB associations probably play a fundamental role in the structure and energetics of the ISM in star-forming galaxies. Their influence may also dominate the relationship between the different interstellar gas phases. How do superbubbles form and evolve? How do they affect the local and global ISM? The Magellanic Clouds provide a s...