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Near-infrared imaging surveys of high-mass star forming regions reveal
an amazingly complex interplay between star formation and its effect
on the environment(Churchwell et al. 2006, Kaper et al. 2007, Alvarez et al. 2005). By means of near-IR spectroscopy the embedded massive young stars can be characterized and and placed in the
context of their birth site. However, so far spectroscopic surveys
have been hopelessly incomplete, hampering any systematic study of
these very young massive stars. New integral field
instrumentation available at ESO has opened the possibility to take a huge
step forward by obtaining a full spectral inventory of the youngest
massive stellar populations in star forming regions currently
accessible. Simultaneously, the analysis of the extended emission allows
the characterization of the environmental conditions.
The FEMS collaboration aims at setting up a VLT Large Programme to obtain a full census of the
stellar content, ionized material, outflows and PDR's over a sample of
regions that cover a large parameter space. We will also establish the connection between H+K spectroscopy and radio/Infrared observations.
We have obtained 40 hours of SINFONI observations for a feasibility study
of our proposed strategy: mapping 8 young regions of high-mass star formation.
With this systematic study we will obtain a complete inventory of high-mass
stellar properties to better constrain models. In this meeting,
we will present first results and discuss their potential use to answer further relevant
questions of high-mass star formation and early evolution (e.g distance and age determination,
detection of warm circumstellar associated features, IMF).
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