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Wednesday, 2 September at 2.00pm at the JAC
Doug Johnstone
HIA, Victoria, Canada
"Contemplating the Low Mass Star Formation Road Map to ALMA"
ABSTRACT: Coordinated multi-wavelength surveys of nearby
molecular clouds provide strong constraints on the physical conditions
within low-mass star-forming regions. In this manner, Perseus and
Ophiuchus have been exceptional laboratories for testing the earliest
phases of star formation. Highlights of these results are (1) most of
the mass of the cloud is at low column density, (2) dense cores form
only in high column density regions, (3) the mass distribution of the
dense cores is similar to the IMF, (4) dense cores contain only a few
percent of the cloud mass, (5) the more massive cores are most likely
to contain embedded protostars, and (6) the kinematics of the dense
cores and the bulk gas show significant coupling. In this talk, I will
mention each of these important results and attempt to place them in
context with theoretical models and simulations of star formation. I
will then consider how ALMA might be utilized to further our
understanding, and the route between the present and planned molecular
cloud surveys and the start of ALMA observing.
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