Atomic and Molecular Data in Astrophysics

Five distinct astronomical phenomena for which atomic and molecular processes play a crucial role in their interpretation will be reviewed. Cosmology has become a precision science in which advances in instrumentation must be matched by improvements in the quality of atomic and molecular data if the full value of the observations is to be realized. Recent studies will be summarized. Molecular anions have been detected in molecular clouds and circumstellar shells and their formation and destruction processes will be discussed. As an example of the range of processes important in astrophysics, recent applications of charge exchange of multiply charged ions as a source of X-rays will be described.