Atomic jets and molecular out?ows from Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) are among the most spectacular of astrophysical phenomena. Approaching this topic, one gets immediately trapped by the breathtaking beauty of the op- calimagestakenfromEarthorSpacewithmoderntelescopes,onlytodiscover soonafterthatthephysicsthatregulatestheirpropertiesisevenmoreintri- ing. Out?ows are believed to play a fundamental role in the formationprocess of a new star and its planets, as they could be the principal agent for the removal of the excess angular momentum from the star-disk system. Their generation mechanism, still poorly understood, involves a complex interplay of gravity, turbulence, and magnetic forces, while their propagation into the surrounding medium a?ects through the action of shocks and ionizing fronts the way the parent cloud evolves, and hence the future generations of young stars. A deep understanding of stellar jets is therefore fundamental to any theory of Star Formation. The motivation of the four-year JETSET (Jet Simulations, Experiments and Theory) Marie Curie Research Training Network is to build an int- disciplinary European research community focused on the study of jets from youngstars. Thenetwork’sscienti?cgoalsfocusonunderstanding(1)thedr- ing mechanisms of jets around young stars; (2) the cooling-heating processes, instabilities, and shock structures in stellar and laboratory jets; and (3) the impact of jets on energy balance and star formation in the galactic medium. Central to these overall goals are the series of JETSET schools dedicated to the training of our young researchers in key jet topics.
This volume contains the edited lecture notes of the Second JETSET School on Jets from Young Stars: Clues from High Angular Resolution Observations organised by the Marie Curie Research Training Network JETSET: Jet Simulations, Experiments and Theory. After the opening two chapters on jet emission, readers can learn the fundamental background of modern high-spatial-resolution techniques, and how such methods have impacted on our understanding of young stars. The lectures provide hands-on insight into
- Observing from space, e.g. from HST and in the future JWST, and from the ground with adaptive optics,
- The use of interferometers at millimetre and infrared wavelengths,
- Spectro-astrometry
- Image analysis and spectral diagnostic techniques
- High-Angular Resolution studies of the inner regions of circumstellar disks, which play a fundamental role in jet launching.
The books' practical approach makes it an outstanding and extremely useful textbook for PhD students and young researchers in astronomy.
