EPoS Contribution
EPoS Contribution
The Structure of Accretion Flows in the Formation of Very Massive Stars

Roberto Galvan-Madrid
ESO, Garching bei Muenchen, Germany
Multi-configuration Submillimeter Array (SMA) observations toward a small sample of very luminous (L > 10^5 L_sun) massive star formation regions are presented. The dense and warm molecular gas surrounding Hypercompact HII regions is resolved down to scales < 0.05 pc. Subarcsecond angular resolution maps of hydrogen recombination lines are also able to resolve the dynamics of the inner ionized gas. Massive, partially-ionized accretion flows appear to be the birthplace of the most massive (M > 15 M_sun) stars in the Galaxy.
Collaborators:
Qizhou Zhang, CfA, USA
Eric Keto, CfA, USA
Luis F. Rodriguez, CRyA-UNAM, Mexico
Paul T. P. Ho, ASIAA, Taiwan
Key publication