Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 1997
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997aas...191.2003c&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, 191st AAS Meeting, #20.03; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 29, p.1244
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
We present preliminary results from a detailed, numerical study of gravitational condensation in an unbounded, magnetized medium. The calculation is intended to model each stage in the formation of a dense core, similar to those found within star-forming regions, out of its parent molecular cloud. We assume that the evolution proceeds quasi-statically, through the combined action of self-gravity and ambipolar diffusion. The condensation is followed from its origin as a small perturbation in an initially homogeneous background medium of density rho_0 , until the point when its central density is ~ 10(2) rho_0 . The evolution is characterized by three distinct epochs: (i) an early growth phase, in which the region of interest grows to a size somewhat larger than the Jeans' length in the background medium; (ii) a pivotal phase, marked by the detachment of the (now self-gravitating) cloud from the background; and (iii) a contracting phase, in which the central density rapidly increases, while the cloud continues to accrete gas from the background. We compare our results from phase (iii) with the properties inferred from molecular line studies.
Curry Clinton
Stahler Steven W.
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