RANDY L. PHELPS
This is the Star Formation Module
For this assignment, please look through the "lecture" notes
for Star Formation.
These notes contain the material, in condensed form, that I will expect you to become
familiar with. I am sure you will have questions about the material, especially
since it is presented in the form of lecture notes.
To help you fill in the blanks, I have added a few web links below and
within the notes (there are not many!) that you can follow, in order to gain further
insight into the material. Among the websites you should visit are:
Upon completion of this web assignment, you should be comfortable with
the following material:
- The astronomical objects (molecular clouds, protostars, star clusters,
nebulae) that are associated with the formation of stars
- The "Standard Model" of star formation: What are its
predictions? What are the observational tests?
- What are the potential problems with the "Standard Model"?
Upon completion of this web assignment, you should be able to answer
these, and similar questions:
- What are giant molecular clouds?
- How do molecular clouds cool off as they contract?
- What is the role of dust in molecular clouds?
- In what part of the electromagnetic spectrum is dust detected?
- What are the basic steps for forming a star in the "Standard
Model"? What are the model's predictions? What observational evidence
exists to confirm the theory?
- What is an accretion disk?
- What are Herbig-Haro Objects?
- What evidence do we have that circumstellar disks exist?
- What is an infrared excess?
- What problems exist for the "Standard Model"?
- What technique(s) might be used to look for planets around other stars
(extrasolar planets)?
- What do the other solar systems that have been detected "look"
like? Why is this interesting?
These questions, and similar ones, will form the basis of the exam
material for this section of the course. If you have problems with the material, or
are unable to answer some of the questions, I will help you before the date listed in the
syllabus, provided you show me the results of your inquiry into the material,
that is, the answers you have obtained to the above questions!
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