Trigger-happy Star Formation: Radiation From Massive Stars
cyber science
ScienceDaily (Aug. 14, 2009) � A new study from two of NASA's Great
Observatories provides fresh insight into how some stars are born,
along with a beautiful new image of a stellar nursery in our Galaxy.
The research shows that radiation from massive stars may trigger the
formation of many more stars than previously thought.
http://cybernews786.yolasite.com/index/trigger-happy-star-formation-radiati
on-from-massive-stars
MODERATOR'S COMMENT:
Will permit this one time, but in general as another moderator has pointed out, this really looks like a report of a report to a site trying to generate hits. I'm hoping it generates discussion here. But for this particular poster and site, this is a one time exception, unless they actually contribute to the site. GdM
Steve Willner
> Having read what was in the cite, I'm puzzled by the statement that
> scientists consider this 'rare'.
Me too. The link appears to be an unedited press release from
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ssc2009-17/
where you can get some really nice images. The scientific paper is
published in ApJ, and there's a publicly-accessible preprint at
http://arxiv.org/abs/0904.4907
The debate about the importance of triggering in star formation has been
going on for at least 30 years. I'm sure there are papers in the
literature claiming that triggering is always needed and others claiming
it's never important. (The assertion being that the cloud would have
collapsed eventually regardless, even if the actual collapse was
triggered.) While I don't follow this subject closely, it seems to me
the data nowadays rule out both extremes. There are many beautiful
examples of triggering (as in Cep B, cited in the press release) but
also star formation regions that show no sign of any triggering. There
are also multiple mechanisms that can cause triggering.
The paper is more than a "few decimal places to pi" -- there is still a
lot to learn about triggering mechanisms -- but the press release is
probably a tad overblown. Is that a surprise? At least you can tell
what the observations were and what the main result is. That's not
always the case with press releases.
--
Steve Willner Phone 617-495-7123 swil...@cfa.harvard.edu
Cambridge, MA 02138 USA