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The formation process of massive stars is still poorly understood. Massive young stellar objects (mYSOs) are deeply embedded in their parental clouds, they are rare and thus typically distant, and their reddened spectra usually preclude the…
The transition between the low density groups of T Tauri stars and the high density clusters around massive stars occurs in the intermediate-mass (IM) range (M$_*$$\sim$2--8 M$_\odot$). High spatial resolution studies of IM young stellar…
The primary aim of this work is to examine the effect of parabolic stellar encounters on the evolution of a Jovian-mass giant planet forming within a protoplanetary disc. We consider the effect on both the mass accretion and the migration…
Two basic routes for planetesimal formation have been proposed over the last few decades. One is a classical "slow-growth" scenario. Another one is particle concentration models, in which small pebbles are concentrated locally and then…
The Orion Nebula is one of the most frequently observed nearby (<1 kiloparsec) star forming regions and, consequently, the subject of a large bibliography of observations and interpretation. The summary in this chapter is bounded spatially…
We investigated an isolated, globule-shaped object (0.37x0.11 pc), located near the centre of the Cygnus OB2 cluster and named proplyd #7 in optical observations. The source can be a massive star (with or without disc) with a HII region or…
We examine the pattern of star birth in the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC), with the goal of discerning the cluster's formation mechanism. Outside of the Trapezium, the distribution of stellar masses is remarkably uniform, and is not accurately…
In two papers we try to confirm that all Galactic high-mass stars are formed in a cluster environment, by excluding that O-type stars found in the Galactic field actually formed there. In de Wit et al. (2004) we presented deep K-band…
The formation of planetesimals in protoplanetary disks due to collisional sticking of smaller dust aggregates has to face at least two severe obstacles, namely the rapid loss of material due to radial inward drift and particle fragmentation…
FU Orionis are young stellar objects undergoing episodes of enhanced luminosity, which are generally ascribed to a sudden increase of mass accretion rate in the surrounding protostellar disc. Models invoking a thermal instability in the…
The presence of rings and gaps in protoplanetary discs are often ascribed to planet-disc interactions, where dust and pebbles are trapped at the edges of planetary induced gas gaps. Recent work has shown that these are likely sites for…
This paper shows that gravitating bodies travelling through the Galaxy can trap lighter interstellar particles that pass nearby with small relative velocities onto temporarily-bound orbits. The capture mechanism is driven by the Galactic…
The formation of planetesimals is a necessary step in the formation of planets. While several mechanisms have been proposed, a local dust-to-gas ratio above unity is a strong requirement to trigger the collapse of pebble clouds into…
The discovery of high incidence of hot Jupiters in dense clusters challenges the field-based hot Jupiter formation theory. In dense clusters, interactions between planetary systems and flyby stars are relatively common. This has a…
Most stars form in dense stellar environments. It is speculated that some dense star clusters may host intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs), which may have formed from runaway collisions between high-mass stars, or from the mergers of less…
We present the Class I protostellar binary separation distribution based on the data tabulated in the companion paper. We verify the excess of Class I binary stars over solar-type main-sequence stars, especially at separations beyond 500…
Context: The earliest evolutionary stages of low-mass protostars are characterised by hot and fast jets which remove angular momentum from the circumstellar disk, thus allowing mass accretion onto the central object. However, the launch…
Theoretical models suggest that massive stars form via disk-mediated accretion, with bipolar outflows playing a fundamental role. A recent study toward massive molecular outflows has revealed a decrease of the SiO line intensity as the…
In single star systems like our own Solar system, comets dominate the mass budget of bodies that are ejected into interstellar space, since they form further away and are less tightly bound. However 1I/`Oumuamua, the first interstellar…
Debris discs are dusty belts of planetesimals around main-sequence stars, similar to the asteroid and Kuiper belts in our solar system. The planetesimals cannot be observed directly, yet they produce detectable dust in mutual collisions.…