Research report 2007 - Max Planck Institute for Astronomy

Massive Star Formation

Authors
Beuther, Henrik
Departments

Stern- und Planetenentstehung (Prof. Dr. Thomas Henning)
MPI für Astronomie, Heidelberg

Summary
Massive stars are much rarer and they form much faster than low-mass stars – which is why it is quite unlikely to be able to observe their early stages. In addition, all regions with massive young stars are at a greater distance from our solar system, resulting in stringent requirements for the resolution and sensitivity of the instruments used for observation. However, today the new interferometers in the sub-millimeter and millimeter range enable the investigation of more distant star formation regions at high spatial resolution and sufficient sensitivity. An international team lead by MPIA managed to gain interesting insights into several massive star-forming regions, including the famous Orion KL region.

For the full text, see the German version.

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