Cool Stars 14 - Submitted Abstract # 319
This version created on 05 October 2006

The Formation of Low-Mass Protostars and Proto-Brown Dwarfs


Juergen Steinacker, MPIA Heidelberg, Germany
Jochen Eisloeffel, TLS Tautenburg, Germany
Ralf Klessen, ITA/ZAH Heidelberg, Germany

Star formation is one of the great four themes of 'Origins'
studied in astronomy today, and special attention is attributed
to the formation of low-mass stars like our own sun. Low-mass
stars are thought to form from the collapse of a low-density
interstellar molecular cloud, producing a high-density core
which evolves into a flattened proto-planetary disk through
which material is accreted on to the growing central object.

Large ground-based telescopes and currently active satellite
observatories like HST, Chandra, XMM, and most outstandingly
Spitzer are delivering a wealth of new details, partially
forcing us to re-conceive our conceptions of star formation. At
the same time, these new data are preparing the ground for ALMA
and Herschel, which will come online in the near future.

The advanced numerical simulations of the complex evolution of
collapsing low-mass cores are about to enter a new era with the
explicit inclusion of heating and cooling by radiative transfer
and with multi-wavelengths modeling of high-resolution images.

However, despite all of these new high-resolution observations
and simulations of low-mass star forming regions, the main
controlling agents of the early phase star formation process
remain highly debated.

The main goal of the splinter session is to highlight ongoing
progress in tackling the controlling physical processes of the
formation of low-mass proto-stars and proto-brown dwarfs.

The oral presentations are planned to address the main physical
processes gravitational collapse, turbulence, magnetic fields,
radiation, chemistry, and jets. Detailed work should be
presented in posters which are available during the CS14 meeting
and which is summarized in a dedicated talk. The final
discussion has the objective to consolidate possible projects
for improving the progress in the identification of the
controlling agent of early low-mass star formation.

Format:
We plan to have 8 contributed presentations (12+3 mins) covering
highlights of current research on the formation of low-mass
protostars and proto-brown dwarfs with an outlook of what can be
expected in the next year.

We plan to have the poster presentations proposed for the
splinter to be circulated by email well before the session. A
summarizing talk will address all posters and their implications
for the formation of low-mass protostars and proto-brown dwarfs
(12+3 mins). The last 25 mins are devoted to a dedicated
discussion about progress in the field by current and planned
projects. 

Website:
http://www.mpia-hd.mpg.de/homes/stein/CS14FormationSpl/

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