Star formation

About: Star formation is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 37405 publications have been published within this topic receiving 1808161 citations. The topic is also known as: astrogenesis.

Ultra-Compact HII Regions and Massive Star Formation

Abstract: ▪ Abstract This review discusses three main topics: evolution to the ultra-compact (UC) state; the properties of UC HII regions and their environments; and UC HII regions as probes of Galactic structure. The evolution to UC HII regions begins in giant molecular clouds that provide the natal material for prestellar cores that evolve into hot cores, the precursors of UC HII regions. The properties of each evolutionary phase are reviewed, with particular emphasis on those of hot cores. The observed properties of UC HII regions and their environments are summarized with emphasis on the physical processes that may produce the observed properties. The final section summarizes the use of UC HII regions as probes of Galactic structure: in particular, the Galactic population and distribution of newly formed massive stars, the location of spiral arms, and the average galactocentric temperature and abundance gradients.

Late-type stars members of young stellar kinematic groups - I. Single stars

Abstract: This is the first paper of a series aimed at studying the properties of late-type stars members of young stellar kinematic groups. We concentrate our study on classical young moving groups as: Local Association (Pleiades moving group, 20 - 150 Myr), IC 2391 supercluster (35 Myr), Ursa Major group (Sirius supercluster, 300 Myr), and Hyades supercluster (600 Myr); as well as on recently identified groups as: Castor moving group (200 Myr). In this paper we have compiled a preliminary list of single late-type stars possible members of some of these young stellar kinematic groups. Stars have been selected from previously established members of stellar kinematic groups based on photometric and kinematic properties as well as from candidates based on other criteria as their level of chromospheric activity, rotation rate, lithium abundance. Precise measurements of proper motions and parallaxes taken from Hipparcos Catalogue, as well as from Tycho-2 Catalogue, and published radial velocity measurements are used to calculate the Galactic space motions (U, V, W) and to apply the Eggen's kinematic criteria in order to determine the membership of the selected stars to the different groups. Additional criteria using age-dating methods for late-type stars will be applied in forthcoming papers of this series. A further study of the list of stars compiled here could lead to a better understanding of the chromospheric activity and their age evolution as well as of the star formation history in the solar neighbourhood. In addition, these stars are also potential search targets for direct imaging detection of sub-stellar companions.

CANDELS: The progenitors of compact quiescent galaxies at z~2

Abstract: We combine high-resolution HST/WFC3 images with multi-wavelength photometry to track the evolution of structure and activity of massive (log(M*) > 10) galaxies at redshifts z = 1.4 - 3 in two fields of the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS). We detect compact, star-forming galaxies (cSFGs) whose number densities, masses, sizes, and star formation rates qualify them as likely progenitors of compact, quiescent, massive galaxies (cQGs) at z = 1.5 - 3. At z > 2 most cSFGs have specific star-formation rates (sSFR = 10^-9 yr^-1) half that of typical, massive SFGs at the same epoch, and host X-ray luminous AGN 30 times (~30%) more frequently. These properties suggest that cSFGs are formed by gas-rich processes (mergers or disk-instabilities) that induce a compact starburst and feed an AGN, which, in turn, quench the star formation on dynamical timescales (few 10^8 yr). The cSFGs are continuously being formed at z = 2 - 3 and fade to cQGs by z = 1.5. After this epoch, cSFGs are rare, thereby truncating the formation of new cQGs. Meanwhile, down to z = 1, existing cQGs continue to enlarge to match local QGs in size, while less-gas-rich mergers and other secular mechanisms shepherd (larger) SFGs as later arrivals to the red sequence. In summary, we propose two evolutionary scenarios of QG formation: an early (z > 2), fast-formation path of rapidly-quenched cSFGs that evolve into cQGs that later enlarge within the quiescent phase, and a slow, late-arrival (z < 2) path for SFGs to form QGs without passing through a compact state.

The ATLAS3D project – IV. The molecular gas content of early-type galaxies

Abstract: The definitive version can be found at : http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ Copyright Royal Astronomical Society

H-alpha Observations of a Large Sample of Galaxies at z~2: Implications for Star Formation in High Redshift Galaxies

Abstract: Using H-alpha spectra of 114 rest-frame UV-selected galaxies at z~2, we compare inferred star formation rates (SFRs) with those determined from the UV continuum luminosity. After correcting for extinction using standard techniques based on the UV continuum slope, we find excellent agreement between the indicators, with = 31 Msun/yr and = 29 Msun/yr. The agreement between the indicators suggests that the UV luminosity is attenuated by an typical factor of ~4.5 (with a range from no attenuation to a factor of ~100 for the most obscured object in the sample), in good agreement with estimates of obscuration from X-ray, radio and mid-IR data. The H-alpha luminosity is attenuated by a factor of ~1.7 on average, and the maximum H-alpha attenuation is a factor of ~5. In agreement with X-ray and mid-IR studies, we find that the SFR increases with increasing stellar mass and at brighter K magnitudes, to ~ 60 Msun/yr for galaxies with K 10^11 Msun) have had higher SFRs in the past.