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| EPoS Contribution |
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Pre-stellar mass functions across the Galaxy
Adam Ginsburg U Florida, Gainesville, US | |
| The Core Mass Function is the key tool needed to link the gas clouds we study in detail in our Galaxy to stellar populations in star clusters and in other galaxies. The CMF has been characterized in detail in local clouds and discussed extensively at previous EPoS meetings, but it has only recently become accessible in more distant clouds with ALMA observations. I will discuss new measurements from observations of the Central Molecular Zone in the context of recent results in high-mass star-forming regions, emphasizing the upper end of the CMF. I will highlight challenges in measuring the CMF, particularly mass inference of protostellar cores, and describe a forward modeling approach to mitigate those challenges that can be broadly applied. Finally, I will include a status report on the ALMA-IMF large program that will increase the number of measured core masses in the Galaxy tenfold. | |
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| Caption: An image of the Galactic Center cloud Sgr B2 DS, which contains more than four hundred pre- or protostellar cores, many of which will form high-mass stars. In the RGB image, red shows radio emission tracing HII regions, green shows ALMA 3 mm data highlighting the most massive cores and HII regions, and blue shows deep ALMA 1 mm data that includes cores as small as 0.3 solar masses. The inset images show the 8000-AU resolution view of these cores. While the slope of the flux distribution power-law is consistent with that seen in other regions, 2.4 +/- 2, forthcoming temperature measurements are needed to infer the core masses. | |
| Collaborators: P. Schilke, U Koeln, DE A. Schmiedeke, MPE, DE F. Meng, U Koeln, DE C. Battersby, U Connecticut, US |
Key publication
Suggested Session: Cores |