The purpose of this book is to give a detailed description of the planetary nebulae including the relevant astronomical observations and their interpretation. Considerable attention is given to the evolution of these objects as well as to their physical characteristics. I t is hoped that the book be useful to both advanced research workers and to students with some background in astronomy. In this regard, the book should serve as a text as well as a reference work. The many tables included are expected to be useful for both purposes. The references are generally not included in the text...

The last major conference on infrared astronomy was the IAU Symposium No. 96 in June 1980. Since then, the discipline has continued to mature and to contribute to all branches of astrophysics. One particular area of growth has been in spectroscopic capabilities at all infrared wavelengths. The purpose of the Symposium in Toledo was to review the scientific questions to be addressed via infrared spectroscopy and to provide, in the proceedings, a useful summary of the field. The sensitivity of infrared spectroscopic observations is still generally limited by detector characteristics or by...

This work deals with some of the most typical complexes of interstellar matter and is intended to serve both as a reference book for the specialist and as an introduction for the newcomer to the field. It is hoped to meet the first aim by presenting a holistic view of the well studied complexes in Orion, built on information derived from various branches of modern Astrophysics. The wealth of published data is presented in the form of photographs, contour maps, diagrams and numerous heavily annotated tables. The second aim is pursued by providing an outline of the complexes, the physical...

The symposium on "Neutral Clouds near HII Regions" was prompted by an obvious need to bring together workers specifically interested in the dynamical and photochemical effects in regions showing clear evidence of on-going star formation. This is currently an are a of considerable research activity with much new observational material over the wavelength range from X-ray to radio. Furthermore, the field isbeginning to mature. No longer is molecular spectroscopy concerned only with the search for new lines and with preliminary surveys. No longer are evolving HII regions modelled with the naive...

Interest world-wide in the provision of new observational astro nomical facilities in the form of ground-based optical telescopes of large aperture has never been higher than exists at present. The benefits to be gained from increased aperture size, however, are only utilised effectively if efficient instrumentation is also available. There have been significant improvements recently in this area, part icularly in detector technology and data handling as well as in optical design, so that systems which are currently being developed have the capability of being vastly more powerful in terms of...

Many aspects of symbiotic stars have long puzzled astronomers. For instance while most students of the subject have considered them binary, many have at different times supported single star models. The nature of their outbursts is uncertain, while the dividing line between symbiotic stars and novae is unclear. In any case doubts can even be raised as to whether a class of "Symbiotic Stars" really exists. Much new data has been obtained in recent years, in particular from the study of radiation outside the visual region. Many symbiotic stars have been studied in the UV with IUE since 1978,...

The Sixth European Regional Meeting in Astronomy (VI ERMA) on "Sun and Planetary System" was held in Dubrovnik (Yugoslavia), 19-23 October 1981, sponsored by the Federal Executive Council of Yugoslavia, the IAU, IUGG, and the European Physical Society. The Scientific Organizing Committee included W. Fricke (Chairman), H. Alfven, H. Haupt, H. Kautzleben, Z. Kopal, J. Kovalevsky, V. A. Krat, L. Kresak, G. Marx, P. Melchior, P. J. Message, J. -C. Pecker, G. Sitarski, B. Sevarlic, G. Teleki, and R. M. West. The Local Organizing Committee representing the Union of Societies of Mathematicians,...

The idea of this Colloquium came during the XVIIth General Assembly of the I. A. U. at Montreal. The meeting was organized under the auspices of I. A. U. Commission 5 (Documentation and Astronomical Data). The Scientific Organizing Committee consisted of C. Jaschek (chairperson), O. Dluzhnevskaya, B. Hauck (vice chairperson), W. Heintz, P. Lantos, Th. Lederle, J. Mead~ G. Ruben, Y. Terashita, G. Wilkins. The members of this Committee are to be thanked for their devotion to the organization of what turned out to be a very successful meeting. The program was organized so as to cover most of the...

If Zdenek Kopal Department of Astronomy University of Manchester Your Magnificences, my Lord Mayor, ladies and gentlemen! It is a great pleasure for me to respond, on behalf of your foreign guests, to your gracious words of welcome; and to thank you for the wonderful reception which you nave extended to us. The city of Bamberg and its Remeis Sternwarte nas indeed been renowned allover the world for a great many years - as the place where your Observatory's first director, Professor Ernst Hartwig (1851-1923) - in addition to his other titles to fame - collaborated (with Gustav Muller of...

When my colleague Dr. Paul Kent asked me which branch of Physics was most lively and which would lend itself best to a small high quality Symposium, I had no hesitation in answering 'Cosmology'. It seemed very timely that a meeting should take place which would bring together scientists interested in all branches of Astronomy, including Cosmic Rays, and Elementary Particles too and endeavour to put at least some of the pieces of the jigsaw together. The vast majority of the papers presented were later produced ~n appropriate camera-ready form and are published in this volume. I am very...