Collaborative Research: The End of Star Formation: Gauging the Impact of Feedback on Dense Gas

Stars by the billions trace the structures of entire galaxies throughout the visible universe. The investigators aim to improve models of the star formation process. Dense gas cores are the parts of interstellar gas clouds that are the birth sites of individual stars, or small groups of them.

However, cores are often observed to be weakly bound by external pressure and their own gravity. Star forming clouds are very vulnerable to external influences from their surroundings. The investigators will observe and model the range of environments where cores are found, and they will characterize those environments and the star forming cores.

In addition, this program will support the AstroTROUP initiative to provide paid research experiences during the academic year to STEM-underrepresented minority student majors in Astronomy, as well as to hire peer tutors for help in their coursework.

This program will support a series of projects to analyze local molecular cloud environments in systematic ways using already available images of the regions. First, gas structure and turbulent conditions will be constrained based on analysis of the probability density functions and power spectra. Second, the investigators will create a library of synthetic infrared observations of feedback-influenced molecular gas from magnetohydrodynamic simulation results.

They will use this library to train a machine learning algorithm to systematically map out feedback influences. Finally, the investigators plan to perform a comprehensive analysis of core properties, derived from the investigator’s Clouds to Cores Legacy Survey as a function of gas properties and feedback conditions.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.