Related papers: Structure Function Scaling of a 2MASS Extinction M…
Molecular clouds are the most important incubators of young stars clustered in various stellar structures whose spatial extension can vary from a few AU to several thousand AU. Although the reality of these stellar systems has been…
Stars form from dense cores in turbulent molecular clouds. According to the standard scenario of star formation, dense cores are created by cloud fragmentation. However, the physical mechanisms driving this process are still not fully…
We review recent advances in the analytical and numerical modeling of the star formation rate in molecular clouds and discuss the available observational constraints. We focus on molecular clouds as the fundamental star formation sites,…
The remarkably filamentary spatial distribution of young stars in the Taurus molecular cloud has significant implications for understanding low-mass star formation in relatively quiescent conditions. The large scale and regular spacing of…
Galactic extinction is tested using galaxy number counts at low Galactic latitude obtained from five band photometry of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The spatial variation of galaxy number counts for low extinction regions of $E(B-V) <…
Studying the atomic-to-molecular transition is essential for understanding the evolution of interstellar medium. The linear edge of Taurus molecular cloud, clearly identified in the $^{13}$CO(1-0) intensity map, serves as an ideal site for…
We present a detailed computational study of the assembly of protostellar disks and massive stars in molecular clouds with supersonic turbulence. We follow the evolution of large scale filamentary structures in a cluster-forming clump down…
We present an overview of data available for the Ophiuchus and Perseus molecular clouds from ``Phase I'' of the COMPLETE Survey of Star-Forming Regions. This survey provides a range of data complementary to the Spitzer Legacy Program ``From…
We present an extinction map of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), using 204,502 stars from the Two Micron All Sky Survey point source catalog. We first use the NICE method to determine the reddening distribution, \ehk and \ejh, which we…
The ISM is governed by supersonic turbulence on a range of scales. We use this to develop a rigorous excursion-set model for the formation and time evolution of dense gas structures (GMCs, massive clumps, and cores). Supersonic turbulence…
Characterizing the spatial and velocity structure of molecular clouds is a first step towards a better understanding of interstellar turbulence and its link to star formation. We present observations and structure analysis results for a…
Context. Turbulence is a key component of molecular cloud structure. It is usually described by a cascade of energy down to the dissipation scale. The power spectrum for subsonic incompressible turbulence is $k^{-5/3}$, while for supersonic…
Recent observations suggest that mass ejection and mass accretion both decline significantly with time during early protostellar evolution (Bontemps et al. 1996). In the present paper, we propose that this rapid decay of accretion/ejection…
We have carried out a search for filamentary structures in the Taurus molecular cloud using $\rm^{13}CO$ line emission data from the FCRAO survey of $\rm \sim100 \, deg^2$. We have used the topological analysis tool, DisPerSe, and…
The fragmentation of molecular clouds (MC) into protostellar cores is a central aspect of the process of star formation. Because of the turbulent nature of super-sonic motions in MCs, it has been suggested that dense structures such as…
We use polarimetric observations of two stars (HD29647, HD283809) in the general direction of TMC-1 in the Taurus Dark Cloud to investigate grain properties and cloud structure in this region. We show the data to be consistent with a simple…
The structure function is a useful quantity to characterize wavefront distortions. We derive expressions for the structure functions of the averaged wavefront phase and slopes. The expressions are valid within the inertial range of…
The Pillars of Creation in M16 represent an iconic star-forming region where stellar feedback shapes molecular cloud evolution. We present a detailed investigation of dust extinction and density structure in the Pillars of Creation using…
We examine the spatial distribution and mass segregation of dense molecular cloud cores in a number of nearby star forming regions that span about four orders of magnitude in star formation activity. We use an approach based on the…
We here analyse numerical simulations of supersonic, hypersonic and magnetohydrodynamic turbulence that is free to decay. Our goals are to understand the dynamics of the decay and the characteristic properties of the shock waves produced.…