Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Galaxy Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2011-03-07
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Galaxy Astrophysics
To appear in the Astrophysical Journal. Press release available at: http://www.astro.cf.ac.uk/pub/Dimitrios.Stamatellos/News/N
Scientific paper
A star acquires much of its mass by accreting material from a disc. Accretion is probably not continuous but episodic. We have developed a method to include the effects of episodic accretion in simulations of star formation. Episodic accretion results in bursts of radiative feedback, during which a protostar is very luminous, and its surrounding disc is heated and stabilised. These bursts typically last only a few hundred years. In contrast, the lulls between bursts may last a few thousand years; during these lulls the luminosity of the protostar is very low, and its disc cools and fragments. Thus, episodic accretion enables the formation of low-mass stars, brown dwarfs and planetary-mass objects by disc fragmentation. If episodic accretion is a common phenomenon among young protostars, then the frequency and duration of accretion bursts may be critical in determining the low-mass end of the stellar initial mass function.
Hubber David
Stamatellos Dimitris
Whitworth Anthony
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