Massive star formation: is there a chemical signature of its evolutionary sequence?

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High mass stars play a crucial role in the formation and evolution of galaxies, but little is known about how they are created. We shall use the upgraded Mopra and Australia Telescope Compact Array national facility telescopes to observe the chemical changes induced in the environs of massive stars by UV irradiation, outflow and shock waves during the formation process. We shall model the underlying physical and chemical processes that determine the chemical abundances to develop a paradigm for the sequence of events that occur during the formation of a massive star.