Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009aas...21431501s&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #214, #315.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.760
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Low-mass stars, with masses from about a tenth to several solar masses, form from the gravitational collapse of dense condensations, or "cores", within molecular clouds. Stars with mass greater than 8 Msun may form in a similar way from proportionally more massive cores. However, the propensity for cold, dense gas to fragment and the difficulty for accreting material to overcome winds and radiation pressure imply that massive stars may accumulate their mass in a distinctly different manner.
Data from the SMA, JCMT, and CFHT help to observationally discern between these possibilities. Since massive stars form exclusively within cluster environments where crowded fields of young stars can quickly erase the observational signatures of their formation, two Galactic clouds are chosen for study that appear to be in a state immediately preceding the formation of a cluster. Following a brief overview of the data, the discussion will focus on the discovery of a massive, cold, and dense core that occupies a unique regime of mass-luminosity parameter space. The possibility that this core will eventually become a massive star or stars will be explored.
Swift Jonathan
Williams Jedediyah
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