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A key to understanding the mechanism of star formation is to
characterise in detail the nature of the turbulent, weakly ionized and
magnetised plasma in which stars form. We use high spatial resolution
IR K-band observations
of velocities of vibrationally excited H2 in the Orion Molecular Cloud (OMC1)
from CFHT/GriF. OMC1 is highly active with widespread on-going star
formation, exemplified by the presence of protostars, outflows and
larger scale flows.
We perform a
statistical analysis of the gas motions and compare with numerical
simulations of supersonic turbulence. Is is shown that the turbulence
at the small scales covered (70 AU to 30000 AU) generally follow the
trends observed in CO data at larger scales. However clear deviations
from fractal scaling are found. These deviations are ascribed to the
presence of low mass protostellar zones injecting energy into the
system. Simulations without gravity and magnetic fields are unable to
reproduce this feature.
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