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arXiv 1208.4256astro-ph.GAastro-ph.CO
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银河系恒星形成率的变化和恒星形成的密度阈值

Variations in the Galactic star formation rate and density thresholds for star formation

S. N. Longmore, J. Bally, L. Testi, C. R. Purcell, A. J. Walsh, E. Bressert, M. Pestalozzi, S. Molinari, J. Ott, L. Cortese, C. Battersby, N. Murray, E. Lee, D. Kruijssen

摘要:

气体转化为恒星是天体物理学和宇宙学中的一个基本过程。已知恒星是由星际分子云中致密团块的引力坍缩形成的,有人提出恒星的形成速率与超过临界气体表面密度的质量成正比,或者与气体体积密度成正比。这些恒星形成的处方似乎在我们银河系圆盘附近的分子云中以及恒星形成率通常要大得多的遥远星系中都成立。我们银河系的内部500 pc,中央分子区(CMZ),包含银河系中密度最大的高表面密度分子气体,提供了一个可以测试恒星形成处方有效性的环境。在这里,我们表明,通过几个措施,目前的恒星形成率在CMZ是一个数量级低于目前公认的处方预测率。特别是,1度<1度< 3.5度,|b| < 0.5度的区域包含约10^7兆太阳的致密分子气体-足以形成1000个猎户座状的星团-但目前在这种气体中的恒星形成率仅相当于猎户座。除了密度,分子云的另一个性质,如湍流运动的幅度,必须包括在恒星形成的处方,以预测恒星形成率在一个给定的分子气体质量。

英文摘要:

The conversion of gas into stars is a fundamental process in astrophysics and cosmology. Stars are known to form from the gravitational collapse of dense clumps in interstellar molecular clouds, and it has been proposed that the resulting star formation rate is proportional to either the amount of mass above a threshold gas surface density, or the gas volume density. These star-formation prescriptions appear to hold in nearby molecular clouds in our Milky Way Galaxy's disk as well as in distant galaxies where the star formation rates are often much larger. The inner 500 pc of our Galaxy, the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ), contains the largest concentration of dense, high-surface density molecular gas in the Milky Way, providing an environment where the validity of star-formation prescriptions can be tested. Here we show that by several measures, the current star formation rate in the CMZ is an order-of-magnitude lower than the rates predicted by the currently accepted prescriptions. In particular, the region 1 deg < l < 3.5 deg, |b| < 0.5 deg contains ~10^7 Msun of dense molecular gas -- enough to form 1000 Orion-like clusters -- but the present-day star formation rate within this gas is only equivalent to that in Orion. In addition to density, another property of molecular clouds, such as the amplitude of turbulent motions, must be included in the star-formation prescription to predict the star formation rate in a given mass of molecular gas.

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