New Extragalactic Perspectives in the New South Africa: Proceedings of the International Conference on Cold Dust and Galaxy Morphology held in Johan [Paperback]

The date: September 30, 1880 The place: A private observatory in Hastings-on-Hudson Profession of the observer: A medical doctor The instrument: An l1-inch Clark refractor. The significance of that night marked one of the truly great turning points in the development of astronomical techniques: Dr Henry Draper, a wealthy New York medical doctor, had secured the first photograph of a nebula: a 51-minute exposure on a dry gelatinobromide plate showing the wispy nebulosity of the Orion Nebula. By March 1882, Draper had secured an exposure of 137 minutes, showing far richer detail of both bright and dark features. The rest is histapy. The photographic era heralded in a universe where hints of the presence of cosmic dust were strongly alluded to: from star-forming regions such as Messier 17, to the Horsehead Nebula in Orion, to the striking dark finger in the Cone Nebula, to the magnificent dark bands in the plane of our Milky Way. Historically, astromomers from the very beginning have been afraid of dust.Changing perceptions of the morphology and dust content in galaxies.- How cold could galaxies be?.- Temperature fluctuations and very cold dust.- The interstellar medium as observed by COBE.- Molecular gas in spiral galaxies.- Cold dust signatures on SNR gamma ray spectra.- Optical and infrared images of galaxies: Whats to be learned?.- Optical, IR and HI observations of a large complete cluster sample.- The relationship between near IR extinction and CO emission.- Extinction and dust column density in spiral disks from FIR vs UV-Optical comparison.- The effects of supergiants on the infrared light distribution in galaxies.- Reflections at the Registration Desk.- Distribution and Content of dust in overlapping galaxy systems.- Evolution and emission of cold, warm and hot dust populations in diffuse and molecular clouds.- Organics and ices in galactic dust.- Studies of NIR dust absorption features in the nuclei of Active and IRAS galaxies.- Tiny grains and large molecul³+