Fundamental Questions in Astrophysics: Guidelines for Future UV Observatories [electronic resource] / edited by Ana I. Gómez de Castro, Willem Wamsteker.

Structure and Evolution of White Dwarfs and their Interaction with the Local Interstellar Medium -- Key Problems in Cool-Star Astrophysics -- UV Capabilities to Probe the Formation of Planetary Systems: From the ISM to Planets -- Ultraviolet Studies of Interacting Binaries -- The Need for Ultraviolet to Understand the Chemical Evolution of the Universe, and Cosmology -- Starbursts at Space Ultraviolet Wavelengths -- A View to the Future: Ultraviolet Studies of the Solar System -- Active Galaxies in the UV -- Fundamental Problems in Astrophysics -- Guidelines for Future UV Observatories -- Massive stars in the UV.

Modern astrophysics is a mature science that has evolved from its early phase of discovery and classification to a physics-oriented discipline focused in finding answers to fundamental problems ranging from cosmology to the origin and diversity of life-sustainable systems in the Universe. For this very reason, progress of modern astrophysics requires the access to the electromagnetic spectrum in the broadest energy range. The Ultraviolet is a fundamental energy domain since it is one of the most powerful tool to study plasmas at temperatures in the 3,000-300,000~K range as well as electronic transitions of the most abundant molecules in the Universe. Moreover, the UV radiation field is a powerful astrochemical and photoionizing agent. This book describes the fundamental problems in modern astrophysics that cannot progress without easy and wide-spread access to modern UV instrumentation.