event
Thursday 15 Jul 2010: Gas Dynamics in Massive Star Forming Regions
Dr Pamela Klaassen - ESO, Garching, Germany
Physics, 124 14:00-15:00
High mass stars are a major contributor to galactic evolution; from the large energies ejected in outflows and winds, to the chemical enrichment produced when they explode. Yet, there is still no unified picture for their formation. Because high mass star formation is such a deeply embedded process and occurs at great distances, one of the best ways to study massive star formation is to probe the effects of the forming star(s) on its (their) surroundings. To this end, we present high resolution (~1") observations of the molecular gas kinematics surrounding massive star forming regions harbouring HII regions. These observations, a combination of two SMA configurations and JCMT short spacing, show rotation of the warm molecular gas, infall onto these rotating structures, and large scale outflows which emanate from the boundaries of the HII regions. Here, we compare the kinematics of this molecular gas to that of the ionized gas, and find that the kinematics of the two populations are consistent.
