The Evolution of Molecular Clouds

Details The Evolution of Molecular Clouds The Evolution of Molecular Clouds

Jul 2002

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002hst..prop.9505w&link_type=abstract

HST Proposal ID #9505

Computer Science

Hst Proposal Id #9505

Scientific paper

How is the evolution of dense clouds affected by their surrounding, more diffuse gas? Without an answer, it is not possible to understand the evolution of the ISM. Dense clouds can end their lives through the combined actions of star formation, violent disruption, and ablation. If ablation is an important process, then it is not a foregone conclusion that the dense clouds we see today will ever form stars. We will learn about the ablation process using STIS observations toward 18 stars for which we have existing FUSE observations, sightlines selected to lie behind the extended halos of four widely separated, molecular clouds. Our primary goal is to measure the gas pressure, the key to driving gas flows; secondary goals are to estimate the prevailing radiation and the CO column density. We have completed a pilot study of three stars in B5/Perseus, which enabled us to infer the presence near that cloud, of an isobaric, evaporative outflow, probably driven by UV irradiation. The 18 proposed sightlines lie near four dense clouds which have been well studied at radio, mm and far-IR wavelengths, providing needed auxiliary information about morphology and kinematics. The clouds {1} are nearby, {2} are unperturbed by massive star formation, and {3} sample a range of external environments. The combined STIS, FUSE and ground-based results will yield information needed to understand the role of ablation in the evolution of the central clouds.

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