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arXiv · 1601.02654

Using young massive star clusters to understand star formation and feedback in high-redshift-like environments

Steven Longmore·Ashley Barnes·Cara Battersby·John Bally·J. M. Diederik Kruijssen·James Dale·Jonathan Henshaw·Daniel Walker·Jill Rathborne·Leonardo Testi·Juergen Ott·Adam Ginsburg
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Abstract

The formation environment of stars in massive stellar clusters is similar to the environment of stars forming in galaxies at a redshift of 1 - 3, at the peak star formation rate density of the Universe. As massive clusters are still forming at the present day at a fraction of the distance to high-redshift galaxies they offer an opportunity to understand the processes controlling star formation and feedback in conditions similar to those in which most stars in the Universe formed. Here we describe a system of massive clusters and their progenitor gas clouds in the centre of the Milky Way, and outline how detailed observations of this system may be able to: (i) help answer some of the fundamental open questions in star formation and (ii) quantify how stellar feedback couples to the surrounding interstellar medium in this high-pressure, high-redshift analogue environment.

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Steven Longmore, Ashley Barnes, Cara Battersby, John Bally, J. M. Diederik Kruijssen, James Dale, Jonathan Henshaw, Daniel Walker, Jill Rathborne, Leonardo Testi, Juergen Ott, Adam Ginsburg. 2016-01-11. Using young massive star clusters to understand star formation and feedback in high-redshift-like environments. https://doi.org/10.1051/eas/1575006

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