Astronomy and cosmology with ISO

The paper presents some examples of typical observations which may be performed with the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). In the solar system, monitoring of atmospheric compounds on Mars, measurements of the interplanetary dust, and studying the surface mineralogy of asteroids are considered. It is noted that because ISO is a small cryogenically-cooled telescope, it is suited for the study of emission from molecular clouds, while photometry and spectroscopy in the ISO range will provide data on all phases of the ISM. The brightest stars and stars undergoing mass loss at high rate might be explored by ISO, whereas ISO will be a powerful tool for detailed studies of bright galaxies. The midinfrared waveband of ISO is considered to be particularly suitable for studying evolution over cosmological time scales.