Access
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
Letters to Nature
Nature 416, 59-61 (7 March 2002) | doi:10.1038/416059a; Received 17 September 2001; Accepted 2 January 2002
Open Innovation Challenges
-
Single-cell Analysis Platform
This Challenge is looking for novel approaches to analyzing changes at a single-cell level. This is...
-
Direct Molecular Detection of Proteins and Nucleic Acids
This Challenge is looking for novel approaches to protein and nucleic acid detection. This is an Id...
nature jobs
Faculty - Plant Cellular & Molecular Biology, Molecular Genetics & the Plant Molecular Biology / Biotechnology Program
- The Ohio State University
- Columbus, Ohio
Data Manager
- Philip Morris International (PMI)
- Neuchatel Switzerland
Massive star formation in 100,000 years from turbulent and pressurized molecular clouds
Christopher F. McKee1,2 & Jonathan C. Tan2,3
- Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
- Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
- Princeton University Observatory, Peyton Hall, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
Correspondence to: Christopher F. McKee1,2 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to C.F.M. (e-mail: Email: cmckee@mckee.berkeley.edu).
Abstract
Massive stars (with mass m* > 8 solar masses M
) are fundamental to the evolution of galaxies, because they produce heavy elements, inject energy into the interstellar medium, and possibly regulate the star formation rate. The individual star formation time, t*f, determines the accretion rate of the star; the value of the former quantity is currently uncertain by many orders of magnitude1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, leading to other astrophysical questions. For example, the variation of t*f with stellar mass dictates whether massive stars can form simultaneously with low-mass stars in clusters. Here we show that t*f is determined by the conditions in the star's natal cloud, and is typically
105 yr. The corresponding mass accretion rate depends on the pressure within the cloud—which we relate to the gas surface density—and on both the instantaneous and final stellar masses. Characteristic accretion rates are sufficient to overcome radiation pressure from
100M
protostars, while simultaneously driving intense bipolar gas outflows. The weak dependence of t*f on the final mass of the star allows high- and low-mass star formation to occur nearly simultaneously in clusters.
- Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
- Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
- Princeton University Observatory, Peyton Hall, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
Correspondence to: Christopher F. McKee1,2 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to C.F.M. (e-mail: Email: cmckee@mckee.berkeley.edu).
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).

