Star Formation and the Interstellar Medium

《恒星形成与星际介质》恒星形成在现代天体物理学中具有中心重要性。恒星，特别是大质量的恒星，通过它们产生的风和它们发射的辐射对它们的环境产生深远的影响。该奖项所涵盖的研究的总体目标是了解恒星是如何从动荡的星际介质中形成的，以及反过来，恒星的能量注入如何决定恒星形成的星际介质的性质。提出了一系列的研究，每一个都涉及到我们的星系和我们自己以外的盘状星系中的恒星形成问题。在我们自己的星系中，将特别关注低质量恒星形成的过程。大型星团中的恒星形成也将被研究。大的星团包含比太阳大得多的恒星，在最初几颗恒星产生的环境破坏的情况下，恒星的形成是如何进行的，这一点也不清楚。本奖项所涉及的第三项工作将是试图了解气体在不同相之间的分布。分子气体、冷原子气体和热原子气体的相对比例将被确定，这将导致在一般星系中形成自洽的恒星速率。

" Star Formation and the Interstellar Medium "AST- 0098365Star formation is of central importance in modern astrophysics. Stars, particularly massive stars, have a profound effect on their environment through both the winds they produce and the radiation they emit. The overall goal of the research covered by this award is to understand how stars form from the turbulent interstellar medium and how, in turn, energy injection from stars determines the properties of the interstellar medium out of which the stars form. A series of investigations is proposed, each of which is concerned with the problem of star formation both in our galaxy and in disk galaxies other than our own. In our own galaxy, special attention will be given to the process of low-mass star formation. Star formation in large clusters will also be investigated. Large clusters contain stars much more massive than the Sun and it is not at all clear how star formation can even proceed in the presence of the environmental disruption produced by just the first few stars. A third effort addressed during the present award will be an attempt to understand the distribution of gas among various phases. The relative proportions of molecular, cold atomic and warm atomic gas will be determined which will lead in turn to a self-consistent star formation rate within galaxies in general.