Submillimeter observations with ALMA will be the essential next step in our understanding of how stars and planets form. Key projects range from detailed imaging of the collapse of pre-stellar cores and measuring the accretion rate of matter onto deeply embedded protostars, to unravelling the chemistry and dynamics of high-mass star-forming clusters and high-spatial resolution studies of protoplanetary disks down to the 1 AU scale.
@article{arxiv.0708.3016,
title = {Star and Planet Formation with ALMA: an Overview},
author = {Ewine F. van Dishoeck and Jes K. Jorgensen},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0708.3016},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
Invited review, 8 pages, 5 figures; to appear in the proceedings of "Science with ALMA: a New Era for Astrophysics". Astrophysics & Space Science, in press