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| EPoS Contribution |
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The Initial Conditions for Star Formation in Clusters
Tyler L. Bourke Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, USA | |
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It is now well established that low-mass stars form from the collapse of
dense cores within molecular clouds, and much of our knowledge of star
formation has come from studies of relatively isolated dense cores. Yet
isolated star formation is at best a simpler picture of the more relevant
problem, how do stars form in clusters of 100 or more members, in a region
extended over ~1 pc, in a time period of ~1 Myr, with a mass distribution
following the initial mass function.
With interferometric and single-dish mm/submm telescopes we are undertaking high spectral and spatial resolution molecular line observations of dense starless cores within nearby cluster forming regions. The goal of these observations is to determine the internal structure (physical and kinetic) of these cores, and compare ther properties to those of the better studied isolated dense cores, and so address the fundamental question - what are the initial conditions for star formation in clusters? In this contribution we will present our latest results. | |
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| Caption: Integrated line maps of N2H+ 1-0 and 3-2 toward the Ophiuchus A cluster core N6. The 1-0 data are from Di Francesco et al. (2004) and the 3-2 data from our SMA observations (combined with 30-m data). | |
| Collaborators: P.C. Myers, CfA, USA J. Di Francesco, HIA, Canada P. Caselli, U.Leeds, UK D.J. Wilner, CfA, USA R.K. Friesen, NRAO, USA A.S. Hedden, CfA, USA |
Suggested Session:
Cores and Collapse |