Related papers: Dark cloud cores and gravitational decoupling from…
We present results of our study on eight dense cores, previously classified as starless, using infrared (3-160 {\micron}) imaging observations with \textit{AKARI} telescope and molecular line (HCN and N$_2$H$^+$) mapping observations with…
Starless molecular cores are natural laboratories for interstellar molecular chemistry research. The chemistry of ices in such objects was investigated with a three-phase (gas, surface, and mantle) model. We considered the center part of…
Molecular line observations of starless (prestellar) cores combined with a chemical evolution modeling and radiative transfer calculations are a powerful tool to study the earliest stages of star formation. However, conclusions drawn from…
Observations indicate that massive stars form in regions of very high surface density, ~1 g cm^-2. Clusters containing massive stars and globular clusters have a comparable column density. The total pressure in clouds of such a column…
This paper discusses the statistics of internal motions in starless dense cores and the relation of these motions to core density and evolution. Four spectral lines from three molecular species are analyzed from single-pointing and mapped…
Dynamical collapse and fragmentation of low-metallicity cloud cores is studied using three-dimensional hydrodynamical calculations, with particular attention devoted whether the cores fragment in the dust-cooling phase or not. The cores…
Observations of dark cloud cores have been carried out in the mid-infrared using ISOCAM and in the far-infrared using ISOPHOT, both aboard the Infrared Space Observatory. The cores are in most cases detected in emission at 200 and 170…
In this paper, we review some of the properties of dense molecular cloud cores. The results presented here rely on three-dimensional numerical simulations of isothermal, magnetized, turbulent, and self-gravitating molecular clouds (MCs) in…
We investigate star formation at very early evolutionary phases in five massive clouds in the inner 500 pc of the Galaxy, the Central Molecular Zone. Using interferometer observations of H$_2$O masers and ultra-compact H II regions, we find…
Two scenarios have been proposed for evolution of star forming cores: gravitational fragmentation of larger structures and coalescence of smaller entities which are formed from some instabilities. Here, we turn our attention to the latter…
We present the latest development of the disk gravitational instability and fragmentation model, originally introduced by us to explain episodic accretion bursts in the early stages of star formation. Using our numerical hydrodynamics model…
We aim to investigate the polarization properties of a starless core in a very early evolutionary stage. Linear polarization data reveal the properties of the dust grains in the distinct phases of the interstellar medium. Our goal is to…
Dust grains coagulate into larger aggregates in dense gas. This changes their size distribution and possibly affects the thermal evolution of star-forming clouds. We here investigate dust coagulation in collapsing pre-stellar cores with…
Using recent dust continuum data, we generate the intrinsic ellipticity distribution of dense, starless molecular cloud cores. Under the hypothesis that the cores are all either oblate or prolate randomly-oriented spheroids, we show that a…
Stars form by gravoturbulent fragmentation of interstellar gas clouds. The supersonic turbulence ubiquitously observed in Galactic molecular gas generates strong density fluctuations with gravity taking over in the densest and most massive…
To study the fragmentation and gravitational collapse of dense cores in infrared dark clouds (IRDCs), we have obtained submillimeter continuum and spectral line data as well as multiple inversion transitions of NH3 and H2O maser data of…
Context. Low-mass star-forming cores differ from their surrounding molecular cloud in turbulence, shape, and density structure. Aims. We aim to understand how dense cores form out of the less dense cloud material by studying the connection…
Even today in our Galaxy, stars form from gas cores in a variety of environments, which may affect the properties of resulting star and planetary systems. Here we study the role of pressure, parameterized via ambient clump mass surface…
To characterize the initial conditions for intermediate- to high-mass star formation, we observed two Infrared Dark Clouds (IRDCs) that remain absorption features up to 70mum wavelength, with the PdBI in the 3.23mm dust continuum as well as…
Dusty starless cores play an important role in regulating the initial phases of the formation of stars and planets. In their interiors, dust grains coagulate and ice mantles form, thereby changing the millimeter emissivities and hence the…