Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 1987
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1987nascp2466....3s&link_type=abstract
Star formation in galaxies, Proceedings of a conference at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, June 16
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
17
B Stars, Galactic Evolution, Galactic Structure, Infrared Astronomy, O Stars, Star Formation, Stellar Mass Accretion, Active Galactic Nuclei, Emission Spectra, H Ii Regions, Infrared Astronomy Satellite, Molecular Clouds, Stellar Luminosity
Scientific paper
The Galactic distributions of HI, H2, and HII regions are reviewed in order to elucidate the high mass star formation occurring in galactic spiral arms and in active galactic nuclei. Comparison of the large scale distributions of H2 gas and radio HII regions reveals that the rate of formation of OB stars depends on (nH2)1.9 where (nH2) is the local mean density of H2 averaged over 300 pc scale lengths. In addition the efficiency of high mass star formation is a decreasing function of cloud mass in the range 200,000 to 3,000,000 solar mass. These results suggest that high mass star formation in the galactic disk is initiated by cloud-cloud collisions which are more frequent in the spiral arms due to orbit crowding. Cloud-cloud collisions may also be responsible for high rates of OB star formation in interacting galaxies and galactic nuclei. Based on analysis of the Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) and CO data for selected GMCs in the Galaxy, the ratio LIR/M sub H2 can be as high as 30 solar luminosity/solar mass for GMCs associated with HII regions. The LIR/M sub H2 ratios and dust temperature obtained in many of the high luminosity IRAS galaxies are similar to those encountered in galactic GMCs with OB star formation. High mass star formation is therefore a viable explanation for the high infrared luminosity of these galaxies.
Good John C.
Scoville Nicholas Z.
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