Protostars and Planets VI, Heidelberg, July 15-20, 2013

Poster 1B051

Understanding Ultracompact H II Regions

Peters, Thomas (University of Zurich)
Mac Low, Mordecai-Mark (American Museum of Natural History)
Banerjee, Robi (University of Hamburg)
Klessen, Ralf S. (University of Heidelberg)
Dullemond, Cornelis P. (University of Heidelberg)

Abstract:
H II regions are important signatures of star formation both in the Milky Way and in external galaxies, play an important role in destroying the parental molecular clouds in which stars form, and, while still in the ultracompact phase, give insight into the process of high-mass star formation. We present simulations that consistently follow the gravitational collapse of a massive molecular cloud, the subsequent build-up and fragmentation of the accretion disk surrounding the nascent massive star, and, for the first time, the interaction between its intense UV radiation field and the infalling material. We show how these simulations help explain the origin of ultracompact H II region morphologies, their number statistics, their time variability, and the long-standing lifetime problem.

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