STAR FORMATION: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

Chris McKee
University of California at Berkeley

The study of star formation is advancing rapidly due both to new observations and to computational advances. The major questions in star formation include: What determines the rate of star formation? What determines the stellar mass distribution (i.e., the IMF)? How do individual stars form? In particular, how do they shed the angular momentum and magnetic flux of the gas out of which they form, and how do massive protostars continue to accrete in the face of enormous radiation pressure? How do star clusters form in the face of intense feedback effects?

Presentation (PowerPoint File)

Back to Workshop I: Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics