ScienceProblem: StarFormingRegionStructure

PrimaryActor

Astronomer

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ScienceGoal

To find and relate probable signposts of star formation with respect to known or new stellar nurseries.

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DataSets

Maser surveys e.g. methanol blind survey of Galactic Centre and any other relevant observations

Catalogues of star forming regions/YSOs

IR catalogues and any other relevant observations especially at high spatial resolution

Optical and X-ray data if available (often v. obscured regions).

High resolution radio continuum, IR and molecular spectral line interferometry

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ProblemDescription:

Attempting to understand the mechanics of star formation

- regognising new star-formation regions (SFR), and establishing reliable indicators of age and mass in known regions

- do some regions preferentially form low/high mass stars?

- what affect does the 'switching on' of high-mass hot young stars have on their fellows?

- Can we distinguish between outflows and discs, and follow the stages from stellar accretion to possible planet formation?

The known nearby SFR are mostly very large (arcmin scales) with complex variable structures.

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CurrentSolution:

Using IR colours and maser distributions/profiles, needs painstaking examination of each data set.

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VOSolution:

Use well-understood SFR or individual YSOs to collect all available data and correlate observational characteristics with known properties, including chemical evolution in protoplanetary discs.

Apply criteria to available data on candidate regions.

Display images or positions of sources on a variety of scales from arcmin to mas.

3-D visualisation to understand the structure of SFR or to use spectral information to interpret the kinematics of individual YSOs.

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KeyReferences:

Hanson, M. M., Luhman, K. L., & Rieke, G. H. 2002, The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, Volume 138, Issue 1, pp. 35-61. A Near-Infrared Survey of Radio-selected Ultracompact H II Regions

Kraemer, Kathleen E., Jackson, James M., Deutsch, Lynne K., Kassis, Marc, Hora, Joseph L., Fazio, G. G., Hoffmann, William F., & Dayal, Aditya 2001, The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 561, Issue 1, pp. 282-298. Dust Characteristics of Massive Star-forming Sites in the Mid-Infrared

Johnstone, Doug, Fich, Mike, Mitchell, George F., & Moriarty-Schieven, Gerald 2001, The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 559, Issue 1, pp. 307-317. Large Area Mapping at 850 Microns. III. Analysis of the Clump Distribution in the Orion B Molecular Cloud

Brand, J., Cesaroni, R., Palla, F., & Molinari, S. 2001, Astronomy and Astrophysics, v.370, p.230-264 (2001) A molecular-line study of clumps with embedded high-mass protostar candidates

Valdettaro, R., Palla, F., Brand, J., Cesaroni, R., Comoretto, G., Di Franco, S., Felli, M., Natale, E., Palagi, F., Panella, D., & Tofani, G. 2001, Astronomy and Astrophysics, v.368, p.845-865 (2001) The Arcetri Catalog of H₂O maser sources: Update 2000

Szymczak, M. & Kus, A. J. 2000, Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement, v.147, p.181-185 New detections of OH sources towards the 6.7 GHz methanol masers

Codella, C. & Moscadelli, L. 2000, Astronomy and Astrophysics, v.362, p.723-729 (2000) On the occurrence of the 6.7 GHz CH₃OH maser emission in UCH bt II regions

Szymczak, M., Hrynek, G., & Kus, A. J. 2000, Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement, v.143, p.269-301 A survey of the 6.7 GHz methanol maser emission from IRAS sources. I. Data

O'dell, C. R. 1998, Astronomical Journal, vol. 115, p. 263 Observational properties of the Orion Nebula proplyds

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GoodStyle: Please add comments below. This area should be used for refinement of the above document. If you want to ask questions or start a dialogue with the author, please use (or create) a topic in the Science Problems Forum. For other ScienceProblems, refer to the ScienceProblemList.
Author: Once the refinements here and comments in the forum die down, perhaps you could rewrite the problem, incorporating the comments and refinements.

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Not clear if this is a key AG driver - more justification needed.

-- NicholasWalton - 17 Apr 2002

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-- AnitaRichards - 01 Feb 2002