Interstellar Clump Behavior and Magnetic Effects in Small Clumps

Details Interstellar Clump Behavior and Magnetic Effects in Small Clumps Interstellar Clump Behavior and Magnetic Effects in Small Clumps

Jul 2000

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2000apj...538..226v&link_type=abstract

The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 538, Issue 1, pp. 226-232.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

7

Ism: Dust, Extinction, Infrared: Ism: Continuum, Ism: Clouds, Ism: Magnetic Fields, Stars: Formation

Scientific paper

Cold, dusty molecular clumps (0.01 pc~Dc, ~p, ~k, <σ>~q. For clumps with diameters <0.5 pc, one finds c=-1.5+/-0.1, p=-1.5+/-0.1, k=1.0+/-0.2. These exponent values differ from those found by Larson for molecular clouds with sizes greater than 1 pc. These differences in c and k could be indicative of ongoing accretion processes in shocked media as a prelude to star formation. The energy distribution in clumps reveals the following: the support against gravitational collapse in clumps with sizes greater than 0.1 pc comes mainly from turbulent energy, while smaller clumps with sizes less than 0.1 pc are supported by both magnetic and turbulent energies. The clump size of 0.1 pc is critical in many other respects.