Theory of Massive Star Formation

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Robi Stefan Banerjee
• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: from 2007 to 2014
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 55395601

Massive stars are the brightest stars in our Universe. They can be observed copiously in our own Milky Way and beyond it in other galaxies. Despite the substantial amount of observational data, our theoretical knowledge of how such massive stars form is far from being complete. Difficulties in understanding the formation of massive stars arise from the complexity of this problem. For instance, massive stars form preferentially in clusters where the neighbouring stars influence each other by outflows and strong radiation feedback. The aim of this proposal is to develop a comprehensive model of massive star formation which will integrate all the different processes of this issue.So far, our understanding of massive star formations comes from separate, only loosely connected, research directions. For the proposed projects we are going to combine these different areas. In particular we will include feedback from radiation, winds and jets produced by the newly formed massive star. As we will self-consistently trace star formation within a large fraction of the parent molecular cloud our results will also include the effect from interactions between the newly formed stars in the cluster. We will also keep track of the chemical evolution within the star-forming region which we will use to validate our models with observational data.

• DFG Programme: Independent Junior Research Groups