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Section: Partnerships and Cooperations
European Initiatives
Collaborations in European Programs, Except FP7 & H2020
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Program: supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinde (DFG) and the Agence national de recherche (ANR).
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Project title: GENeration and Evolution of Structures in the ISm.
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Other partners: Cologne (R. Simon, N. Schneider, V. Ossenkopf, M. Roellig), LAB (S. Bontemps, A. Roy, L. Bonne, F. Herpin, J. Braine, N. Brouillet, T. Jacq), ATN Canberra (Australia), LERMA Paris (France), MPIfR Bonn (Germany), CEA Saclay (France), ITA/ZAH Heidelberg (Germany), Institute of Astronomy, Cardiff (UK), ESO (Germany, Chile), CfA Harvard (USA), IPAG Grenoble (France), Argelander Institut Bonn (Germany), CASS San Diego (USA), University of Sofia (Bulgaria).
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Abstract: The formation of stars is intimately linked to the structure and evolution of molecular clouds in the interstellar medium (ISM). We propose to explore this link with a new approach by combining far infrared maps of dust (Herschel) and cooling lines(C+ with SOFIA) with molecular line maps. Dedicated analysis tools will be used and developed to analyze the maps and compare them to simulations in order to identify for the underlying physical processes. This joint project relies on the complementary expertise of the members of the Cologne KOSMA group (structure identification methods and SOFIA), the Bordeaux LAB star formation group (Herschel and spectro-imaging maps), and the Bordeaux GEOSTAT team of Inria. To understand the genesis of stars, it is necessary to disentangle the relative importance of gravity, turbulence, magnetic fields, and radiation from diffuse gas, to molecular clouds and collapsing cores, and to study the role of filaments. Using innovative new analying tools developed by the GeoStat team, we will analyze the Herschel images as well as new spectro-imaging surveys from ground-based telescopes, and THz spectroscopy using SOFIA. The comparison with similar analysis on simulated clouds will allow us to derive the underlying physical process which explains cloud evolution and the formation of dense structures. The project does not aim at a full understanding of star formation within 3 years, but it constitutes an important step forward as it will make systematic use of a wealth of existing, yet not fully exploited archival data, carefully chosen new observations, and sophisticated tools to analyze and interpret the data. As such, it will shed new light on how molecular clouds and stars form and may well be the starting point for many studies to follow.