Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T20:25:50.062Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Star Formation and the Properties of Giant Molecular Clouds in Global Simulations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2011

Elizabeth J. Tasker  and
Jonathan C. Tan
Elizabeth J. Tasker
Affiliation:
Department of Physics & Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada email: taskere@mcmaster.ca
Jonathan C. Tan
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

We simulated an isolated quiescent Milky Way-type galaxy with a maximum effective resolution of 7.8 pc. Clouds formed in the interstellar medium through gravitational fragmentation and became the sites for star formation. We tracked the evolution of the clouds through 300 Myr in the presence of star formation, photoelectric heating and feedback from Type II supernovae. The cloud mass distribution agreed well with observational results. Feedback suppressed star formation but did not destroy the surrounding cloud. Collisions between clouds were found to be sufficiently frequent to be a significant factor in determining the star formation rate.

Keywords

hydrodynamicsstars: formationISM: cloudsGalaxy: diskISM: structure
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 6 , Symposium S270: Computational Star Formation , May 2010 , pp. 377 - 380
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2011

References

Bigiel, F., Leroy, A., Walter, F., Brinks, E., de Blok, W. J. G., Madore, B., & Thornley, M. D. 2008, AJ, 136, 2846CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blitz, L., Bazell, D., & Desert, F. X. 1990, ApJL, 352, L13CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryan, G. L. & Norman, M. L. 1997, ASP Conf. Ser. 123: Computational Astrophysics; 12th Kingston Meeting on Theoretical Astrophysics, 363Google Scholar
Kennicutt, R. C. Jr. 1998, ApJ, 498, 541CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krumholz, M. R. & Tan, J. C. 2007, ApJ, 654, 304CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosolowsky, E., Engargiola, G., Plambeck, R., & Blitz, L. 2003, ApJ, 599, 258CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tan, J. C. 2000, ApJ, 536, 173CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tasker, E. J. & Tan, J. C. 2009, ApJ, 700, 358CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, J. P. & McKee, C. F. 1997, ApJ, 476, 166CrossRefGoogle Scholar