Star Formation, Planetary Science & Interstellar Medium
Research Group
| Staff | TD & Postdoc | PhD & Master |
| Aresu Giambattista | Aberfelds Artis (ext.) | Sanna Carlotta |
| Casu Silvia | La Mura Giovanni | |
| Leurini Silvia | ||
| Mulas Giacomo | ||
| Sanna Alberto | ||
| Surcis Gabriele |
Figure. The Interstellar Medium cycle – from giant molecular clouds to proto-planetary disks and planets
The galactic cycle of Interstellar Medium (ISM) is a long path that turns diffuse, cold, gas and dust across the Milky Way into small and warm cores where chemical complexity arises, and where the seeds of new generations of young stars and their planetary systems grow. This whole cycle drastically changes both physical and chemical conditions of gas and dust “filling in” the interstellar space, and involves a number of physical processes which, although strictly connected, are entirely different from each other. Observing and explaining these many processes as a whole, and been able to predict how they eventually give rise to stellar siblings of our Sun and the Solar system, are the task of our research field. In particular, research interests in our group range from (observational) Star Formation, aimed to constrain gas and dust dynamics around young stars via direct observations with front-line international facilities, to the modelling of interstellar molecules and planetary atmospheres, to understand, for instance, the formation of molecular precursors of life in interstellar space.
External links
| Astronomy Picture of the Day | Conference Archive | |
| Star Formation Newsletter | The BeSSeL survey |
Latest updates
| Date | Description |
| 08/2025 | Conference in memory of Prof. Dr. Karl M. Menten https://indico.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/event/6/ |
| 05/2025 | Zoom into the second closest massive young star to the Sun https://public.nrao.edu/news/birth-secrets-of-massive-stars/> |