PNE: The Key to Chemical Evolution in BCDGs

Planetary Nebulae have proven to be an essential key to understand the long term chemical enrichment of the interstellar medium due to low mass stars. They allow to study the original abundances of the star, and the effect of the star on the interstellar medium. Blue compact dwarf galaxies are known to host violent star formation in very heavy element depleted environments. They also show traces of past star formation (Doublier et al., 1999; 2001), including AGB starsand red giants which are responsible for long term enrichment. However, models fails to reproduce the low metallicities observed if those stars are taken into account. We observed PNe in BCDGs, and made a comparative study of the abundances in the HII regions and of the PNe. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Cosmological Evolution of Supergiant Star-Forming Clouds

We present the results of very high resolution CDM simulations of galaxy formation designed to follow the formation and evolution of self-gravitating, supergiant star-forming clouds. We find that the mass spectrum of these clouds is identical to that of globular clusters and GMCs; dN/dM ∝ M ^-1.7 ± 0.1. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

银河系化学演化研究进展

银河系的形成与演化是天体物理学研究的重大前沿课题,银河系的化学演化在其中更具有极其重要的地位。随着观测资料的不断积累和理论工作的不断深入,银河系化学演化的研究取得了一系列进展。在观测方面,从太阳附近区域,整个银盘,银晕和核球等方面简要回顾了银河系化学演化模型主要观测约束的近期结果;在化学演化模型方面,回顾了银河系化学演化研究的发展历程和近期进展,并对未来的研究进行了展望。     

Galaxy Evolution in the Northern HDF

The history of star formation in the Northern Hubble Deep Field is probed using a combination of optical and near infrared images taken with WFPC2 and NICMOS on the Hubble Space Telescope. These images cover more than a factor of five in wavelength. This broad wavelength coverage allows accurate photometric determinations of redshift, extinction and intrinsic spectral energy distribution for each galaxy. From these parameters the star formation rate for each galaxy is determined by relating the 1500 angstrom flux to the net star formation rate. We then correct the rates at high redshift for the effects of surface brightness dimming by using a standard form of the star formation intensity distribution. Our measurements show that the star formation rate in the Northern HDF is roughly constant from a redshift of 1 through 6. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Small-scale clumping in molecular clouds

Summary This review consists of five sections. In the introduction, we briefly review the development of the study of molecular clouds. In the second section, we review the theories of molecular cloud structure and compare these predictions with the statistical properties of the clouds. In Sect. 3 we give an overview of current approaches to determinations of mass and local density in clouds. In the fourth part, we discuss the observations of a selected sample of individual sources. The emphasis here is on high resolution studies of regions of star formation. The final section contains a discussion of instrumental limitations and mentions some future developments.     

大质量恒星演化研究

由于高光度和高质量损失率等特性，大质量恒星在星系形成和演化等现代天体物理学的研究中扮演着重要的角色。自上世纪中叶以来，恒星物理研究揭示了大质量恒星内部结构和演化的主要特性，并且构造了一些大质量恒星的演化模型。然而，近年来对大质量恒星的观测表明，已有的这些理论演化模型与观测结果之间存在着严重的分歧。在主导大质量恒星演化最主要因素(即质量损失、内部对流等问题)的处理上，现有的理论有很大的缺陷。综述了目前对上述这些问题的研究现状，并探讨了今后的研究方向。     

Hydrodynamic Instability of Ionization Front in HII Regions: From Linear to Nonlinear Evolution

A sample of 54 6.7-GHz methanol maser sources was monitored at HartRAO for 4 years, and 11 12.2-GHz methanol masers for 3 years. The majority of the maser features display a significant degree of variability but with a wide range of timescales and behaviors. Some maser features remained unvarying throughout the monitoring programme, while others showed sporadic flares or sudden drops in flux density. Yet another group show quasi-periodic and periodic variations. In some cases the maser features dropped below the detection limit for a significant length of time before increasing in intensity and reappearing.     

近红外偏振观测在恒星形成研究中的应用

近红外偏振是研究恒星形成的有效工具.该文介绍了近红外偏振器的工作原理,然后分几个方面介绍了近红外偏振在恒星形成研究中的应用.红外反射云能很好地示踪年轻星天体及分子外流,通过分析偏振矢量的方法确定红外反射云的偏振对称中心,从而确定它的照亮源;偏振波长相关曲线包含了年轻星天体的星周物质的很多信息;年轻星的分子外流导致了红外反射云的形成,因此红外反射云的照亮源通常与年轻星天体成协,并是分子外流的驱动源;一些年轻星天体埋藏得很深,一般在近红外波段无法直接探测到,人们称之为深埋源,通过分析偏振矢量的方法可以找到深埋源;一般认为比较年轻的年轻星天体都是有尘埃盘的,尘埃盘的存在会导致它的偏振形态出现偏振盘,偏振盘町以用来研究尘埃盘;恒星形成区里成员星的偏振主要是由尘埃的二色性消光产生的,这样偏振方向会平行于致使尘埃排列的磁场的方向,从而能够揭示磁场的结构.最后进行了总结,并论述了中远红外偏振研究的优势和意义.     

恒星形成过程中的天体物理现象

恒星形成于分子云环境中。近30多年的观测研究使得天文学家对小质量恒星的形成有了相对明确的认识：小质量恒星通过坍缩、吸积和外向流的路标而形成。至于大质量恒星，其形成过程还存在着许多不确定因素，现有的观测证据表明：大质量恒星也可能通过坍缩、吸积和外向流的路标来形成，但也不排除在星团中通过中小质量恒星聚合而成的因素。大质量恒星形成与致密电离氢区(UCHII)成协较好，而与大质量恒星形成区成协的分子云环境中，既有大质量恒星也有小质量恒星形成。综述了恒星形成各个阶段的观测结果和研究现状以及成协的天体物理环境情况。未来的观测和研究重点在于，大质量恒星形成以及星团环境中的恒星形成。     

Influence of uncertainties in the rate constants of chemical reactions on astrochemical modeling results

We analyze the influence of errors in the rate constants of gas-phase chemical reactions on the model abundances of molecules in the interstellar medium using the UMIST 95 chemical database. By randomly varying the rate constants within the limits of the errors given in UMIST 95, we have estimated the scatters in theoretical abundances for dark and diffuse molecular clouds. All of the species were divided into six groups by the scatter in their model equilibrium abundances when varying the rate constants of chemical reactions. The distribution of the species in groups depends on the physical conditions. The scatters in the abundances of simple species lie within 0.5–1 order of magnitude, but increase significantly as the number of atoms in the molecule increases. We suggest a simple method for identifying the reactions whose rate constants have the strongest effect on the abundance of a selected species. This method is based on an analysis of the correlations between the abundance of species and the reaction rate constants and allows the extent to which an improvement in the rate constant of a specific reaction reduces the uncertainty in the abundance of the species concerned to be directly estimated.     

Magnetic Fields in Star-Forming Regions: Theoretical Aspects

We review the basic theoretical elements leading to our current understanding of the role of magnetic fields in the process of star formation. In particular, we concentrate on: (i) the relevance of the mass-to-flux ratio for the stability of molecular clouds; (ii) the consequences of magnetic flux leakage for the evolution of cloud cores; (iii) the phase of anisotropic dynamical collapse following the formation of strongly peaked density distributions; (iv) the mechanism of magnetic braking as a possible solution to the angular momentum problem in star formation.     

Molecular clouds and the formation of open clusters

Using analytical approximations of the mass spectra of molecular clouds and stellar systems including open clusters and associations a relation between the final star formation efficiency (final SFE) and the initial cloud mass is derived. The dependence of the SFE on cloud mass is estimated for two cases of molecular cloud destruction by stellar winds in spherical geometry. The result of growing SFE with rising cloud mass does not agree with current observations and the above relation. A decrease of the SFE is expected if the fraction of high-mass stars grows with increasing mass of the cloud.     

On the origin of stellar aggregates in molecular clouds

A method which provides the possibility to connect the global characteristics of the interstellar medium with that of the young stellar population of the Galaxy is proposed.     

Influence of molecular outflows from young stellar objects on molecular clouds

In this paper it is investigated whether molecular outflows can support the turbulence in molecular clouds against decay. In the momentum-driven regime of molecular flows the time scale of the replenishment of the fluctuations is longer than the dissipation time scale of pure hydrodynamical supersonic turbulence.     

Laboratory studies of the interaction of carbon monoxide with water ice

The interaction of carbon monoxide (CO) with vapour-deposited water(H₂O) ices has been studied using temperature programmed desorption (TPD) and Fourier transform reflection-absorption infrared spectroscopy (FT-RAIRS) over a range of astrophysically relevant temperatures. Such measurements have shown that CO desorption from amorphous H₂Oices is a much more complex process than current astrochemical models suggest. Re-visiting previously reported laboratory experiments (Collings et al., 2003), a rate model has been constructed to explain, in a phenomenological manner, the desorption of CO over astronomically relevant time scales. The model presented here can be widely applied to a range of astronomical environments where depletion of CO from the gas phase is relevant. The model accounts for the two competing processes of CO desorption and migration, and also enables the entrapment of some of the CO in the ice matrix and its subsequent release as the water ice crystallises and then desorbs. The astronomical implications of this model are discussed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

History of Star Formation and Chemical Enrichment in the Milky Way Disk

Based on a physical treatment of the star formation law similar to that given by Efstathiou, we have improved our two-component chemical evolution model for the Milky Way disk. Two gas infall rates are compared, one exponential, one Gaussian. It is shown that the star formation law adopted in this paper depends more strongly on the gas surface density than that in Chang et al. It has large effects on the history of star formation and gas evolution of the whole disk. In the solar neighborhood, the history of chemical evolution and star formation is not sensitive to whether the infall rate is Gaussian or exponential. For the same infall time scale, both forms predict the same behavior for the current properties of the Galactic disk. The model predictions do depend on whether or not the infall time scale varies with the radius, but current available observations cannot decide which case is the more realistic. Our results also show that it would be inadequate to describe the gradient evolution along the Gala     

Detection of rovibrationally excited H2 formed through the heterogeneous recombination of H atoms on a cold HOPG surface

This paper reports results from an experiment designed to measure the nascent rovibrational population of H₂ molecules that have formed through the heterogeneous recombination of H atoms on the surface of cosmic dust analogues under conditions approaching those of the interstellar medium (ISM). H₂ that has formed on a highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surface has been detected, using laser induced resonance-enhanced multi-photon ionization (REMPI), in the v = 1 (J= 0–3) rovibrational states at surface temperatures of 30 K and 50 K. These excited product molecules display rotational temperatures significantly higher than the target surface temperature. These first results suggest that a considerable proportion of the binding energy released on formation of the H₂ is deposited in the surface, in addition to internal excitation of the product molecules. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

115GHz CO Emission from the IRAS Selected Star-Formation Regions

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