Star formation in molecular clouds of intermediate mass

Details Star formation in molecular clouds of intermediate mass Star formation in molecular clouds of intermediate mass

Dec 1987

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1987ap%26ss.139...37m&link_type=abstract

Astrophysics and Space Science (ISSN 0004-640X), vol. 139, no. 1, Dec. 1987, p. 37-61.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

1

Astronomical Models, H Ii Regions, Interstellar Matter, Molecular Clouds, Star Formation Rate, Atomic Collisions, Galactic Evolution

Scientific paper

Self-consistent multicomponent models of evolution of the interstellar medium have been computed by extending the scheme of Habe et al. (1981) and adding some processes of star formation in molecular clouds induced by supersonic collisions. A monochromatic spectrum of the molecular clouds has been adopted with a cloud mass of 10,000 solar masses. The consequences of these simplifying assumptions have been discussed, and the influence of several parameters (efficiency of star formation, photoionization rate, cloud radius, and mass) and of the initial conditions has been analyzed. There is a strong conditioning of the physical state of the intercloud gas on the star formation rate. Depending on the total initial mass of the molecular clouds per unit volume delta, two different regimes of star formation are possible: (1) when delta is larger than a critical value delta (cr), dominated by collisions between clouds, with a total star formation rate practically constant and a long lifetime for the system; and (2) one characterized by delta less than delta(cr), in which the dominant process is due to the expansion of H II regions, and with the resulting star formation rate causing the system exhaustion in a relatively short lifetime. Some suggestions are derived concerning the evolution of galaxies.

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