Large Gas Cloud near Aquila Rift in Milky Way

[Astronuc]

Cosmic Cloud Poised to Birth Massive Star
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090609-aas-massive-star-precursor.html

PASADENA, CALIF. — A massive, tranquil object found lurking in a dark cloud in our galaxy could be about to transform into a massive star or stars, giving astronomers their first glimpse at such a region on the cusp of stellar birth.

The cloud, located near the Aquila rift in the galactic plane 23,000 light-years away, has a mass 120 times that of the sun, but it is all compressed into a volume smaller than the Oort cloud of comets orbiting our solar system, astronomers said here today at the 214th meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

The temperature of the cloud is less than -427 degrees Fahrenheit (-255 Celsius).

. . . .

"Perhaps the most exciting thing is that we now know that massive and dense cores with no sign of star formation activity do exist," said team member Jonathan Swift of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

How massive stars form is a matter of fierce debate.

Studies of nearby star-forming regions show that smaller, sun-like stars form inside dense cores of molecular gas, but whether or not massive stars form in the same manner isn't known.

Ref: http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20090609/sc_space/cosmiccloudpoisedtobirthmassivestar

A sleeping giant
http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=8340
The Submillimeter Array finds a massive core in a cold, dark cloud.
Provided by AAS Press Conference

June 9, 2009
Astronomers using the Submillimeter Array (SMA) atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii have found a massive, quiescent object in a dark cloud that is likely to be the direct progenitor of a massive star or stars. Dr. Jonathan Swift of the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii at Manoa is presenting these results today at a press conference at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Pasadena, California. This may be the first time that scientists have been able to see such a region before massive stars form.

Located near the Aquila rift in the galactic plane at a distance of 23,000 light-years, this cloud condensation has a mass 120 times that of the Sun contained within a volume smaller than the Oort cloud of comets orbiting at the edge of our solar system. Its temperature is less than 18 degrees above absolute zero. Such a large amount of cold, dense gas is likely to evolve into one or more massive stars.
. . . .

Submillimeter Array - General Information
http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/sma/

hellfire's blog entry on the Aquila Rift
https://www.physicsforums.com/blog.php?b=26

Bibliography on Star Formation and regions
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~reipurth/newsletter/newsletter192.pdf

Open issues in local star formation By Jacques Lépine, Jane Gregório-Hetem

 

[Widdekind]

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