A minimum column density of 1 g cm-2 for massive star formation

Mark R. Krumholz () and Christopher F. McKee
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Mark R. Krumholz: Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
Christopher F. McKee: University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA

Nature, 2008, vol. 451, issue 7182, 1082-1084

Abstract: Massive stars: tipping point Massive stars are rarities because the collapsing gas clouds in which stars form tend to cool efficiently, so that the temperature is fairly even across the cloud. This favours fragmentation into stars of around the mass of the Sun or smaller. Occasionally fragmentation stops short, producing a massive star hundreds of times larger than the Sun. The mystery is, what are the conditions that stop fragmentation. Mark Krumholz and Christopher McKee now show that it is a question of how concentrated the gas is. In regions of high concentration, the energy released when a few small stars form heats the remaining gas up to a point where it can no longer break up. Instead it collapses monolithically to produce larger stars.

Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.1038/nature06620

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