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The Birth of Molecular Clouds: Formation of Atomic Precursors in Colliding Flows

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 نشر من قبل Fabian Heitsch
 تاريخ النشر 2006
  مجال البحث فيزياء
والبحث باللغة English
 تأليف F. Heitsch




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Molecular Cloud Complexes (MCCs) are highly structured and ``turbulent. Observational evidence suggests that MCCs are dynamically dominated systems, rather than quasi-equilibrium entities. The observed structure is more likely a consequence of the formation process rather than something that is imprinted after the formation of the MCC. Converging flows provide a natural mechanism to generate MCC structure. We present a detailed numerical analysis of this scenario. Our study addresses the evolution of a MCC from its birth in colliding atomic hydrogen flows up until the point when H$_2$ may begin to form. A combination of dynamical and thermal instabilities breaks up coherent flows efficiently, seeding the small-scale non-linear density perturbations necessary for local gravitational collapse and thus allowing (close to) instantaneous star formation. Many observed properties of MCCs come as a natural consequence of this formation scenario. Since converging flows are omnipresent in the ISM, we discuss the general applicability of this mechanism, from local star formation regions to galaxy mergers.

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