EPoS Contribution

The Formation and Early Evolution of Clusters and Associations

Thomas Megeath
University of Toledo, Toledo, USA

I will propose five fundamental questions pertaining to the formation of stars in clusters and associations:

1. What are the demographics of star formation in the Milky Way?
2. What processes mediate fragmentation in star forming clouds?
3. How do young clusters evolve and what are the roles of feedback and stellar dynamics?
4. Does the formation environment affect the basic properties (stellar mass, disks properties, rotation) of nascent stars?
5. What controls the density, rate, and efficiency of star formation in molecular cloud complexes, leading to the formation of both associations and clusters?

I will overview current observational work addressing these questions, and I will discuss future observations which may shine further light on their resolution.