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It has been commonly conjectured that all massive stars (> 10 Msun) are born in OB associations or clusters. Many O and B stars in the Galaxy or the Magellanic Clouds appear to exist in isolation, however. While some of these field OB stars have been ejected from their birthplaces, some are too far away from massive star forming regions to be runaways. Can massive stars form in isolation?
The Spitzer survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud (aka SAGE) provides a unique opportunity for us to investigate and characterize the formation sites of massive stars in an entire galaxy. We have identified all massive young stellar objects in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The locations of these massive young stellar objects are compared with those of HII regions, OB associations, HI and molecular clouds. We will present the statistical properties of massive star formation and provide an answer to the question whether massive stars can be formed in isolation.
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