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Image cubes of differential column density as a function of dust temperature are constructed for Galactic Centre molecular cloud G0.253+0.016 ("The Brick") using the recently described PPMAP procedure. The input data consist of continuum…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2016-07-13 K. A. Marsh , S. E. Ragan , A. P. Whitworth , P. C. Clark

We summarize the current status of the turbulent model of star formation in turbulent molecular clouds. In this model, clouds, clumps and cores form a hierarchy of nested density fluctuations caused by the turbulence, and either collapse or…

Astrophysics · Physics 2007-05-23 Enrique Vazquez-Semadeni

We present the results of a numerical study designed to address the question of whether there is a column density threshold for star formation within molecular clouds. We have simulated a large number of different clouds, with volume and…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2015-06-16 Paul C. Clark , Simon C. O. Glover

Molecular clouds are observed to be turbulent, but the origin of this turbulence is not well understood. As a result, there are two different approaches to simulating molecular clouds, one in which the turbulence is allowed to decay after…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-13 Stella S. R. Offner , Richard I. Klein , Christopher F. McKee

The molecular component of the Galaxy is comprised of turbulent, magnetized clouds, many of which are self-gravitating and form stars. To understand how these clouds' evolution may depend on their level of turbulence, mean magnetization,…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-10-31 Eve C. Ostriker , Charles F. Gammie , James M. Stone

The observed increase in star formation efficiency with average cloud density, from several percent in whole giant molecular clouds to ~30 or more in cluster-forming cores, can be understood as the result of hierarchical cloud structure if…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-13 Bruce G. Elmegreen

As part of a series of papers aimed at understanding the evolution of the Milky Way's Central Molecular Zone (CMZ), we present hydrodynamical simulations of turbulent molecular clouds orbiting in an accurate model of the gravitational…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2019-04-10 James E. Dale , J. M. Diederik Kruijssen , S. N. Longmore

Observations of both star-forming regions and young, gas-free stellar associations indicate that most nearby molecular clouds form stars only over a short time span before dispersal; large-scale flows in the diffuse interstellar medium have…

Astrophysics · Physics 2008-11-26 Lee Hartmann , Javier Ballesteros-Paredes , Edwin A. Bergin

Dust grains forming in the extended atmospheres of AGB stars are critical for the heavy mass loss of these cool luminous giants, as they provide radiative acceleration for the stellar winds. Characteristic mid-IR spectral features indicate…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2019-03-27 Susanne Höfner , Bernd Freytag

The isothermal dynamical evolution of a clumpy and turbulent molecular cloud region and its fragmentation into a protostellar cluster is investigated numerically. The effect of different initial density and velocity distributions, generated…

Astrophysics · Physics 2008-11-26 Ralf S. Klessen , Andreas Burkert

We present a steady-state analytical model for pressure-regulated formation of molecular clouds (MC) and stars (SF) in gaseous galactic disks and apply it to the Milky Way (MW). MC formation depends on midplane interstellar pressure…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2025-10-06 José Franco , Aldo Rodríguez-Puebla , Javier Ballesteros-Paredes , Manuel Zamora-Avilez

Observations of distant galaxies suggest that the physics of galaxy formation at high redshifts differs significantly from later times. In contrast to large, steady disk galaxies like the Milky Way, high-redshift galaxies are often…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2025-11-18 Guochao Sun , Claude-André Faucher-Giguère , Jonathan Stern

Stars are born in dense molecular filaments irrespective of their mass. Compression of the ISM by shocks cause filament formation in molecular clouds. Observations show that a massive star cluster formation occurs where the peak of gas…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2022-12-07 Daisei Abe , Tsuyoshi Inoue , Rei Enokiya , Yasuo Fukui

We investigate how the dynamical state of molecular clouds relates to host galaxy environment, and how this impacts the star formation efficiency in the Milky Way and seven nearby galaxies. We compile measurements of molecular cloud and…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2019-09-25 Andreas Schruba , J. M. Diederik Kruijssen , Adam K. Leroy

We investigate the properties of highly compressible turbulence, the compressibility arising from a small effective polytropic exponent $\gamma_e$ due to cooling. In the limit of small $\gamma_e$, the density jump at shocks is shown to be…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-10-28 E. Vazquez-Semadeni , T. Passot , A. Pouquet

Observations of spiral galaxies show a strong linear correlation between the ratio of molecular to atomic hydrogen surface density R_mol and midplane pressure. To explain this, we simulate three-dimensional, magnetized turbulence, including…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2015-05-20 Mordecai-Mark Mac Low , Simon C. O. Glover

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…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2023-06-08 Juan P. Farias , Jonathan C. Tan

(Abridged) The formation of molecular clouds (MCs) from the diffuse interstellar gas appears to be a necessary step for star formation, as young stars invariably occur within them. However, the mechanisms controlling the formation of MCs…

Astrophysics · Physics 2007-11-26 P. Hennebelle , M. -M. Mac Low , E. Vazquez-Semadeni

We have conducted ALMA CO isotopes and 1.3 mm continuum observations toward filamentary molecular clouds of the N159W-South region in the Large Magellanic Cloud with an angular resolution of $\sim$0"25 ($\sim$0.07 pc). Although the previous…

The probability distribution functions (PDF) of density of the ISM in galactic disks and global star formation rate are discussed. Three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations show that the PDFs in globally stable, inhomogeneous ISM in…

Astrophysics · Physics 2011-02-11 Keiichi Wada , Colin Norman