Closing Remarks

Abstract

The twenty-five papers presented here, the vigorous discussions of these papers, and the posters shown, demonstrate the extraordinary vitality of molecular astronomy. The role of molecules in the study of astronomy is an ever increasing one, with contributions being made by observational and theoretical astronomers as well as by chemists and physicists who are expert on subjects relating to the existence of molecules in space. Molecules are both interesting in themselves and interesting as guide posts of the physical conditions of the environments in which they are found. To understand what molecules in space are telling us about their milieux and about their synthesis requires a detailed understanding of the microscopic physics and chemistry, which makes molecular astronomy a strongly interdisciplinary science.