Related papers: Initial conditions for massive star formation
In the inner parts of the Galaxy the Infrared Dark Clouds (IRDCs) are presently believed to be the progenitors of massive stars and star clusters. Many of them are predominantly devoid of active star formation and for now they represent the…
We demonstrate that the high pressure of the hot intracluster medium (ICM) can trigger the collapse of molecular clouds in a spiral galaxy, leading to a burst of star formation in the clouds. Our hydrodynamical simulations show that the…
We have conducted a survey of a sample of infrared-dark clouds (IRDCs) with the Spitzer Space Telescope in order to explore their mass distribution. We present a method for tracing mass using dust absorption against the bright Galactic…
Stars generally form faster than the ambipolar diffusion time, suggesting that several processes short circuit the delay and promote a rapid collapse. These processes are considered here, including turbulence compression in the outer parts…
Stars form predominantly in clusters inside dense clumps of molecular clouds that are both turbulent and magnetized. The typical size and mass of the cluster-forming clumps are $\sim 1$ pc and $\sim 10^2 - $ 10$^3$ M$_\odot$, respectively.…
The observational consequences of the merger scenario for massive star formation are explored and contrasted with the gradual accumulation of mass by accretion. Protostellar mergers may produce high luminosity infrared flares lasting years…
Stellar clusters are born embedded within giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and during their formation and early evolution are often only visible at infrared wavelengths, being heavily obscured by dust. Over the last 15 years advances in…
The progenitors of high-mass stars and clusters are still challenging to recognise. Only unbiased surveys, sensitive to compact regions of high dust column density, can unambiguously reveal such a small population of particularly massive…
The first stars to form in the history of the universe may have been powered by dark matter annihilation rather than by fusion. This new phase of stellar evolution may have lasted millions to billions of years. These dark stars can grow to…
Most simulations of galaxies and massive giant molecular clouds (GMCs) cannot explicitly resolve the formation (or predict the main-sequence masses) of individual stars. So they must use some prescription for the amount of feedback from an…
Super star clusters are the end product of star formation under the most extreme conditions. As such, studying how their final stellar populations are assembled from their natal progenitor gas clouds can provide strong constraints on star…
The fate of massive cold clumps, their internal structure and collapse need to be characterised to understand the initial conditions for the formation of high-mass stars, stellar systems, and the origin of associations and clusters. We…
(Abridged) Aims. To investigate the first stages of the process of high-mass star formation, we selected a sample of massive clumps previously observed with the SEST at 1.2 mm and with the ATNF ATCA at 1.3 cm. We want to characterize the…
The centre of our Galaxy is one of the most studied and yet enigmatic places in the Universe. At a distance of about 8 kpc from our Sun, the Galactic centre (GC) is the ideal environment to study the extreme processes that take place in the…
It is known that massive stars form as result of the fragmentation of molecular clumps. However, what is not clear is whether this fragmentation gives rise to cores massive enough to form directly high-mass stars, or leads to cores of low…
Infrared-dark clouds (IRDCs) are the precursors to massive stars and stellar clusters. G011.11-0.12 is a well-studied filamentary IRDC, though, to date, the absence of far-infrared data with sufficient spatial resolution has limited the…
The Galactic center is a hotbed of star formation activity, containing the most massive star formation site and three of the most massive young star clusters in the Galaxy. Given such a rich environment, it contains more stars with initial…
The formation of massive stellar clusters in turbulent molecular clouds is investigated. We include artificial star formation and energy feedback of newly born stars. The obtained systems are not likely to survive. Case studies to determine…
A model of core-clump accretion with equally likely stopping describes star formation in the dense parts of clusters, where models of isolated collapsing cores may not apply. Each core accretes at a constant rate onto its protostar, while…
We study the formation and early evolution of star clusters that have a wide range of masses and background cloud mass surface densities, $\Sigma_{\rm cloud}$, which help set the initial sizes, densities, and velocity dispersions of the…