This document summarizes different aspects of star formation, including:
- Molecular clouds, cores, and young stellar objects are the key stages in star formation. Disks and planets can form around young stars.
- There are two proposed modes of star formation - clustered, where most stars form in clusters, and distributed, where stars form more individually. However, studies suggest it is unlikely that massive stars can form in isolation.
- Understanding how massive young clusters form and what their progenitors (precursors) look like is an important open question. Studies of regions like the Tarantula Nebula and Galactic Center may provide clues.
31. Prediction
Bressert et al. (2012)
Ginsburg et al. (2012)
All YMC progenitors in MW
are detectable with current
surveys1Like HST on globular clusters,
ALMA will shed light on
extragalactic YMC progenitors2
32. Longmore et al. (2013)
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GLIMPSE Team
The Brick
bricklets