SPH simulations of star/planet formation triggered by cloud-cloud collisions

TL;DR

This paper uses hydrodynamic simulations to study how collisions between molecular clouds can trigger star and planet formation, revealing the formation of low-mass objects including planetary-mass bodies through disc instabilities.

Contribution

It demonstrates that cloud-cloud collisions can induce disc instabilities leading to low-mass star and planet formation, a novel insight into star formation mechanisms.

Findings

Low-mass objects form via gravitational instabilities in protostellar discs.

Disc instabilities are caused by disc-disc and disc-gas interactions.

Some objects formed are in the sub-stellar and planetary mass range.

Abstract

We present results of hydrodynamic simulations of star formation triggered by cloud-cloud collisions. During the early stages of star formation, low-mass objects form by gravitational instabilities in protostellar discs. A number of these low-mass objects are in the sub-stellar mass range, including a few objects of planetary mass. The disc instabilities that lead to the formation of low-mass objects in our simulations are the product of disc-disc interactions and/or interactions between the discs and their surrounding gas.