event
Wednesday 30 Jun 2010: Outflows: what they can do to their environment, what can they do for you
Prof Hector Arce - Yale University, USA
Physics, 4th Floor interaction area 16:30-17:30
Outflows from young stars are among the most prominent signposts of star formation. They deposit energy and momentum into their surroundings and have a considerable impact on the dynamics, distribution, and chemical composition of the gas in star-forming clouds. Outflows from young stellar objects originate within a few AU (or less) of the forming star and may reach linear sizes of a few parsecs. Thus, they interact with a variety of environments in the interstellar medium, from the high-density envelope surrounding the protostar to the low-density atomic medium surrounding the parent molecular cloud. I will discuss the importance of outflow impact on molecular clouds and the star formation process. In addition, I will talk about recent exciting results that show outflows are the key to identifying pre-stellar objects in the very early stages of star formation.
