Related papers: A Density Dependence for Protostellar Luminosity i…
Stars collect most of their mass during the protostellar stage, yet the accretion luminosity and stellar parameters, which are needed to compute the mass accretion rate, are poorly constrained for the youngest sources. The aim of this work…
The value of the accretion luminosity during the early phases of star formation is a crucial information which helps us understand how stars form, yet it is still very difficult to obtain. We develop a new methodology to measure accretion…
The evidence of a relation between the mass accretion rate and the disk mass is established for young, Class II pre-main sequence stars. This observational result opened an avenue to test theoretical models and constrain the initial…
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 present a preliminary view of the protostellar mass-luminosity relation using current samples of protostars with dynamical mass estimates. To provide a lower limit to the expected luminosities, we adopt an empirical estimate for the…
We present a theoretical model for primordial star formation. First we describe the structure of the initial gas cores as virialized, quasi-hydrostatic objects in accord with recent high resolution numerical studies. The accretion rate can…
We report the discovery and characterization of a power law correlation between the local surface densities of Spitzer-identified, dusty young stellar objects and the column density of gas (as traced by near-IR extinction) in eight…
We analyze the time evolution of the luminosity of a cluster of Population III protostars formed in the early universe. We argue from the Jeans criterion that primordial gas can collapse to form a cluster of first stars that evolve…
The luminosities of protostars provide one of the only indirect methods of measuring their masses and mass accretion rates in their earliest stages of evolution. Accurate measurements of protostellar luminosities traditionally requires…
The protostellar luminosity function (PLF) is the present-day luminosity function of the protostars in a region of star formation. It is determined using the protostellar mass function (PMF) in combination with a stellar evolutionary model…
The Cygnus-X star-forming complex is one of the most active regions of low and high mass star formation within 2 kpc of the Sun. Using mid-infrared photometry from the IRAC and MIPS Spitzer Cygnus-X Legacy Survey, we have identified over…
The enormous radiative and mechanical luminosities of massive stars impact a vast range of scales and processes, from the reionization of the universe, to the evolution of galaxies, to the regulation of the interstellar medium, to the…
In an improved model of protostar mass functions (PMFs), protostars gain mass from isothermal cores in turbulent clumps. Their mass accretion rate is similar to Shu accretion at low mass, and to reduced Bondi accretion at high mass.…
We present the results of a near-IR spectroscopic survey of 110 Class I protostars observed from 0.80 microns to 2.43 microns at a spectroscopic resolution of R=1200. We find that Class I objects exhibit a wide range of lines and the…
The last decade has witnessed significant advances in our observational understanding of the earliest stages of low-mass star formation. The advent of sensitive receivers on large radio telescopes such as the JCMT and IRAM 30m MRT has led…
We identify protostars in Spitzer surveys of nine star-forming molecular clouds within 1 kpc: Serpens, Perseus, Ophiuchus, Chamaeleon, Lupus, Taurus, Orion, Cep OB3, and Mon R2, which combined host over 700 protostar candidates. Our diverse…
Low-mass protostars are less luminous than expected. This luminosity problem is important because the observations appear to be inconsistent with some of the basic premises of star formation theory. Two possible solutions are that stars…
Evidence abounds that young stellar objects undergo luminous bursts of intense accretion that are short compared to the time it takes to form a star. It remains unclear how much these events contribute to the main-sequence masses of the…
We present observational evidence of the correlation between the high-mass slope of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) in young star clusters and their stellar surface density, $\sigma_{*}$. When the high-mass end of the IMF is…
The earliest stages of star formation are highlighted by complex interactions between accretion, outflow, and radiative processes, which shape the chemical and physical environment of the emerging protostar. James Webb Space Telescope…