Related papers: Embedded Clusters in Molecular Clouds
The mass function of molecular clouds and clumps is shallower than the mass function of young star clusters, gas-embedded and gas-free alike, as their respective mass function indices are $\beta_0 \simeq 1.7$ and $\beta_\star \simeq 2$. We…
Observations have revealed that most stars are born in clusters. These systems, containing from tens to thousands of stars and typically significant mass in gas in the youngest systems, evolve due to a combination of stellar and star-gas…
Stars form predominantly in groups usually denoted as clusters or associations. The observed stellar groups display a broad spectrum of masses, sizes and other properties, so it is often assumed that there is no underlying structure in this…
We present sub-arcsecond (0.35"-0.9"), near-infrared J,H,K band photometric observations of six fields along the W51 Giant Molecular Cloud (W51 GMC). Our observations reveal four new, embedded clusters and provide a new high-resolution…
Recent observations have revealed a variety of young star clusters, including embedded systems, young massive clusters, and associations. We study the formation and dynamical evolution of these clusters using a combination of simulations…
Molecular clouds at very high latitudes ($b > 60^o$) away from the Galactic plane are considered rare and not conventional sites of star formation. Contrary to this, the recent discovery of high latitude embedded Clusters can possibly…
This is the first of a series of three papers on clustered star formation in the Rosette Molecular Complex. Here we investigate star formation in the interfacing layers between the expanding Rosette Nebula and its surrounding cloud, based…
An investigation based on data from the spatially complete 2MASS Survey reveals that a remarkable burst of clustered star formation is taking place throughout the south-east quadrant of the Rosette Molecular Cloud. Compact clusters are…
The early evolution during massive star cluster formation is still uncertain. Observing embedded clusters at their earliest stages of formation can provide insight into the spatial and temporal distribution of the stars and thus probe…
We present initial results of the first large scale survey of embedded star clusters in molecular clouds in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) using near-infrared (NIR) imaging from the VISTA Magellanic Clouds Survey (Cioni et al. 2011). We…
A young open cluster is a 2-phase system: an ensemble of stars move in a gaseous medium (the mother molecular cloud). The dynamics and thermodynamics of the system, and so its evolution and final fate (is it stable or unstable?), strongly…
Most stars form in highly clustered environments within molecular clouds, but eventually disperse into the distributed stellar field population. Exactly how the stellar distribution evolves from the embedded stage into gas-free associations…
Their ubiquity and extreme densities make star clusters probes of prime importance of galaxy evolution. Old globular clusters keep imprints of the physical conditions of their assembly in the early Universe, and younger stellar objects,…
Some of the youngest stars (age $\lesssim 10$ Myr) are clustered, while many others are observed scattered throughout star forming regions or in complete isolation. It has been intensively debated whether the scattered or isolated stars…
This paper investigates the dynamical evolution of embedded stellar clusters from the protocluster stage, through the embedded star-forming phase, and out to ages of 10 Myr -- after the gas has been removed from the cluster. The relevant…
Feedback from massive stars plays a key role in molecular cloud evolution. After the onset of star formation, the young stellar population is exposed by photoionization, winds, supernovae, and radiation pressure from massive stars. Recent…
We present the results of a deep near-infrared imaging survey of the Rosette Complex. We studied the distribution of young embedded sources using a variation of the Nearest Neighbor Method applied to a carefully selected sample of…
Despite valiant efforts over nearly five decades, attempts to determine the IMF over a complete mass range for galactic field stars and in open clusters have proved difficult. Infrared imaging observations of extremely young embedded…
Open clusters (OCs) are infrequent survivors of embedded clusters gestated in molecular clouds. Up to now, little is known about the initial conditions for the formation of OCs. Here, we studied this issue using high-precision astrometric…
We investigate the formation and early evolution of star clusters assuming that they form from a turbulent starless clump of given mass bounded inside a parent self-gravitating molecular cloud characterized by a particular mass surface…