English

Post-T Tauri stars: a false problem

Astrophysics 2009-10-28 v1

Abstract

We consider the problem of the apparent lack of old T Tauri stars in low-mass star forming regions in the framework of the standard model of low-mass star formation. We argue that the similarity between molecular cloud lifetime and ambipolar diffusion timescale implies that star formation does not take place instantaneously, nor at a constant rate. We conclude that the probability of finding a large population of old stars in a star forming region is intrinsically very small and that the post-T Tauri problem is by and large not existent.

Cite

@article{arxiv.astro-ph/9612139,
  title  = {Post-T Tauri stars: a false problem},
  author = {F. Palla and D. Galli},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/9612139},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

6 pages (LaTeX), no Figures to be published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters