The contagion of star-formation: Its origin

TL;DR

This paper investigates how shock waves in molecular clouds can trigger the formation of dense structures and potential protostars, using advanced 3D simulations of shock-induced gas dynamics.

Contribution

It presents the first high-resolution 3D simulation of shock-driven dense structure formation in molecular clouds, exploring star formation mechanisms.

Findings

Shock waves can compress gas to form dense structures.

Shock-induced compression may lead to protostar formation.

Simulation results support shock-triggered star formation scenarios.

Abstract

Dense pockets of cold, molecular gas precede the formation of stars. During their infancy and later phases of evolution, stars inject considerable energy into the interstellar medium by driving shocks either due to ionising radiation or powerful winds. Interstellar shock-waves sweep up dense shells of gas that usually propagate at supersonic velocities. It is proposed, in this paper, to examine the possibility of dense structure-formation and perhaps, future protostar-formation, in a molecular cloud shocked by such a shell. Here I shall discuss results of a self-gravitating, 3-dimensional, high-resolution simulation using the smoothed particle hydrodynamics.