Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
1998-10-23
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
12 pages, 3 postscript figures. Review to appear in the Proceedings of "New Perspectives on the Interstellar Medium", (22-28 A
Scientific paper
We discuss HD and MHD compressible turbulence as a cloud-forming and cloud-structuring mechanism in the ISM. Results from a numerical model of the turbulent ISM at large scales suggest that the phase-like appearance of the medium, the typical values of the densities and magnetic field strengths in the intercloud medium, as well as Larson's velocity dispersion-size scaling relation in clouds may be understood as consequences of the interstellar turbulence. However, the density-size relation appears to only hold for the densest simulated clouds, there existing a large population of small, low-density clouds, which, on the other hand, are hardest to observe. We then discuss several tests and implications of a fully dynamical picture of interstellar clouds. The results imply that clouds are transient, constantly being formed, distorted and disrupted by the turbulent velocity field, with a fraction of these fluctuations undergoing gravitational collapse. Simulated line profiles and estimated cloud lifetimes are consistent with observational data. In this scenario, we suggest it is quite unlikely that quasi-hydrostatic structures on any scale can form, and that the near pressure balance between clouds and the intercloud medium is an incidental consequence of the density field driven by the turbulence and in the presence of appropriate cooling, rather than a driving or confining mechanism.
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