Hot Molecular Cloud Cores

哈佛大学的Paul Ho博士将专注于与分子云形成大质量恒星有关的三个问题：(1)恒星形成早期阶段云碎片的自旋和收缩；(2)物质盘的形成和结构，特别是在外流气体区域；以及(3)通过与激波锋和恒星风的相互作用形成和演化云核。何博士的研究主要是观测性的，他使用射电波长的星际分子光谱线数据来研究云核的特征。在过去的几年里，星际分子云的致密核心被证明与活跃恒星的形成密切相关。何鸿燊正将他的观测研究重点放在质量更大的云核上。他的研究对确定恒星形成的后期阶段和确定控制恒星形成过程的关键机制具有重要意义。

Dr. Paul Ho, at Harvard University, will concentrate on three problems associated with the formation of massive stars from molecular clouds: (1) Spin-up and contraction of cloud fragments in the early stages of star formation; (2) Formation and structure of disks of material, especially in regions of outflowing gas; and (3) Formation and evolution of cloud cores through interactions with shock fronts and stellar winds. Dr. Ho's research is primarily observational, and he uses data on spectral lines of interstellar molecules at radio wavelengths to study the characteristics of the cloud cores. In the past few years, dense cores of interstellar molecular clouds have been shown to be closely associated with active star formation. Dr. Ho is concentrating his observational research efforts on the more massive cloud cores. His studies are important in defining the latter stages of star formation and in identifying the crucial mechanisms which control the star formation process.