Related papers: Interstellar medium and star formation
Submillimeter observations with ALMA will be the essential next step in our understanding of how stars and planets form. Key projects range from detailed imaging of the collapse of pre-stellar cores and measuring the accretion rate of…
The study of the development of structures on multiple scales in the cold interstellar medium has experienced rapid expansion in the past decade, on both the observational and the theoretical front. Spectral line studies at (sub-)millimeter…
The abundances of gas and dust (solids and complex molecules) in the interstellar medium (ISM) as well as their composition and structures impact practically all of astrophysics. Fundamental processes from star formation to stellar winds to…
The cold interstellar medium (ISM) plays a central role in the galaxy evolution process. It is the reservoir that fuels galaxy growth via star formation, the repository of material formed by these stars, and a sensitive tracer of internal…
Understanding the matter cycle in the interstellar medium of galaxies from the assembly of clouds to star formation and stellar feedback remains an important and exciting field in comtemporary astrophysics. Many open questions regarding…
We investigate the physical processes which lead to the formation of massive stars. Using a numerical simulation of the formation of a stellar cluster from a turbulent molecular cloud, we evaluate the relevant contributions of fragmentation…
The envelopes and disks that surround protostars reflect the initial conditions of star and planet formation and govern the assembly of stellar masses. Characterizing these structures requires observations that span the near-infrared to…
Improving our understanding of the initial conditions and earliest stages of protostellar collapse is crucial to gain insight into the origin of stellar masses, multiple systems, and protoplanetary disks. Observationally, there are two…
There is a strong connection between the formation of a disk galaxy and the properties of the interstellar medium (ISM). Theoretical work has typically either focused on the cosmological buildup of a galaxy with a relatively crude model for…
High spatial and spectral resolution observations of the atomic interstellar medium in nearby dwarf galaxies reveal evidence for warm and cold neutral gas, just like the phases in our own Galaxy. The cold or quiescent phase (about 20% of…
We present a model for the formation of massive ($M > 10 M_\odot$) stars through accretion-induced collisions in the cores of embedded dense stellar clusters. This model circumvents the problem of accreting onto a star whose luminosity is…
The enrichment of the intergalactic medium (IGM) with heavy elements provides us with a record of past star formation and with an opportunity to study the interactions between galaxies and their environments. We summarize current data…
Growing evidence shows that most stars in the Milky Way, including the Sun, are born in high-mass star-forming regions, but due to both observational and theoretical challenges, our understanding of their chemical evolution is much less…
We use observations and evolutionary models of local objects to interpret a recent determination of the star-formation history of the universe. By fitting the global star-formation rate, the model predicts the ratio of spheroid to disk mass…
Galaxies are part of a vast cosmic ecosystem, embedded in an extensive gaseous reservoir that regulates their growth by providing the necessary fuel for star formation while preserving a fossil record of past interactions, outflows, and…
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…
The interstellar medium (ISM) in galaxies is multiphase and cloudy, with stars forming in the very dense, cold gas found in Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs). Simulating the evolution of an entire galaxy, however, is a computational problem…
The processes of star formation are fundamentally different from those of planet formation. Since the mass of a very-low-mass object alone doesn't allow us to uniquely determine its basic nature, we have to look at its other…
Star formation occurs on physical scales corresponding to individual star forming regions, typically of order ~100 parsecs in size, but current observational facilities cannot resolve these scales within field galaxies beyond the local…
Recent observations have revealed massive galactic molecular outflows that may have physical conditions (high gas densities) required to form stars. Indeed, several recent models predict that such massive galactic outflows may ignite star…