The Nature of Low-Density Star Formation
Astrophysics of Galaxies
2019-03-15 v1 Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Abstract
How do stars manage to form within low-density, HI-dominated gas? Such environments provide a laboratory for studying star formation with physical conditions distinct from starbursts and the metal-rich disks of spiral galaxies where most effort has been invested. Here we outline fundamental open questions about the nature of star formation at low-density. We describe the wide-field, high-resolution UV-optical-IR-radio observations of stars, star clusters and gas clouds in nearby galaxies needed in the 2020's to provide definitive answers, essential for development of a complete theory of star formation.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1903.05745,
title = {The Nature of Low-Density Star Formation},
author = {David Thilker and Janice Lee and Peter Capak and David Cook and Daniel Dale and Bruce Elmegreen and Armando Gil de Paz and John Gallagher and Deidre Hunter and Adam Leroy and Gerhardt Meurer and D. J. Pisano and Marc Rafelski and Monica Tosi and Aida Wofford},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1903.05745},
year = {2019}
}
Comments
Science white paper submitted to the Astro2020 Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics