Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jun 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006aas...208.2801j&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society Meeting 208, #28.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.107
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
ALMA is poised to play a central role in unraveling the mysteries of star formation through its extraordinary sensitivity and resolving power. The physical conditions of molecular clouds, within which stars form, will be revealed through observations of both abundant gas species, such as CO and its isotopologues, as well as the much rarer molecules, such as ammonia and diazenylium. Increased sensitivity will allow for the use of diagnostically important optically thin molecular lines to reveal density, temperature, and kinematic signatures. Those species which are only excited in special, localized regions of the star-forming cloud, such as SiO in shock interfaces or formaldehyde and methanol in hot core interiors will also be observable with sufficient resolution to elucidate the underlying structure. Increased sensitivity will allow continuum observations of the thermal emission from dust across the ALMA band providing a powerful diagnostic of both the distribution of material in star-forming regions as well as possible changes in the chemical properties of the dust. Star formation may begin on relatively large scales (tens of thousands of AU) but ends at the size of the star plus disk (tens of AU). The resolving power of ALMA is needed to reach an understanding of the manner in which the star and disk evolve as the surrounding envelope collapses inward. Paradoxically, ALMA is also needed to understand the physically large environment in which massive stars are formed, due to the great distance to these regions and their crowded neighborhoods.In this talk I will outline the capabilities of ALMA, especially with respect to studies of star formation within our Galaxy. I will then discuss the outstanding questions for which observations with ALMA is required, drawing heavily from the results of the Design Reference Science Plan (www.strw.leidenuniv.nl/ alma/drsp.html).
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