What causes stars to form? – Dr David Eden

This talk was part of the UH Centre for Astrophysics Research (CAR) 2023-2024 seminar series. For the ongoing programme, please see: https://www.herts.ac.uk/research/cent...

Date: 22 May 2024
Speaker: Dr David Eden – Armagh Observatory and Planetarium
Title: What causes stars to form?

Abstract: The conversion of molecular gas into stars is a process that is fairly well understood, and has driven the evolution of galaxies from the early Universe to the present day. However, vast differences in star formation efficiency are observed, which tells us that there are differences in the process from location to location. The physics regulating star formation, the scale on which this occurs, and the stage which it impacts the most are unclear. I will introduce the work that has gone on to determine at which process the star-formation efficiency is regulated, as well as the scale that this occurs on by utilising a suite of Galactic Plane surveys across the electromagnetic spectrum. This scale could be that of larger Galactic processes, such as the Galactic Centre or the spiral arms, or down to smaller scales of local triggering agents, with the end goal of producing a truly predictive model of star formation.