A Turbulent Law of Star Formation
Molecular clouds are turbulent. Today’s paper explores how this fact affects the relationship between star formation rate and density from local clouds to distant galaxies.
ALMA peers in on the curious case of one circumstellar disk
Amid all of the swirling chaos during star formation, the universe finds a way to order its diffuse gas into shining young stars. ALMA Science Verification observations give new insight.
Astronomers go butterfly catching with ALMA
Molecular outflows are important components of the star formation process. These authors present observations of a butterfly-shaped outflow in Orion, and present several possible scenarios for this morphology.
A More Accurate Look At Galaxy Formation
In this paper, the authors describe a new galaxy simulation that includes molecular hydrogen, the site of star formation, and discuss what happens with and without it.
Unveiling an important component of Milky Way gas
This paper suggests a new quantity to measure the brightness of gas emission throughout the Milky Way, and determines the regions where most stars are likely to be forming in our Galaxy.
Searching for molecular gas in dwarf galaxies
It’s an unpleasant fact of galactic astrophysics that most of the molecular gas in nearby galaxies is completely undetectable.