Radiation Feedback and Star Formation in Molecular Clouds
Summary
Star formation occurs within dense, cold molecular clouds, yet the newborn stars emit intense radiation that profoundly alters their natal environments. Ultraviolet photons ionise hydrogen, creating overpressured H II regions that can both compress neighbouring gas—triggering further star formation—and disperse cloud material, thereby regulating the overall star formation efficiency. Concurrently, dust grains absorb ultraviolet and optical light and re-emit it at infrared wavelengths, generating an additional radiation-pressure force that can drive slow but sustained gas outflows. These radiative processes operate alongside mechanical feedback from stellar winds and supernovae, carving cavities and filaments in the interstellar medium. The balance between collapse under self-gravity and dispersal by radiation determines the mass distribution of stars, the lifetime of molecular clouds and the rate at which galaxies convert gas into stars. Understanding this interplay is crucial for interpreting observations of star clusters in both the local universe and at high redshift, informing subgrid recipes in cosmological simulations and shedding light on the physical conditions that regulate galaxy evolution.
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Radiation Feedback and Star Formation in Molecular Clouds publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in radiation feedback and star formation in molecular clouds across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Molecular cloud: A cold, dense assembly of gas and dust where star formation takes place.
Radiation pressure: The force exerted by photons on gas and dust, capable of driving outflows from star-forming regions.
Photoionisation: The process by which high-energy photons remove electrons from atoms, creating ionised regions (H II regions) around young stars.
H II region: A zone of ionised hydrogen surrounding massive stars, characterised by high pressure and temperature.
Star formation efficiency (SFE): The fraction of a cloud’s mass converted into stars over its lifetime, often regulated by feedback processes.
References
- Outflows driven by direct and reprocessed radiation pressure in massive star clusters. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2023).
- The impact of pre-supernova feedback and its dependence on environment. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2021).
- Supernova feedback and the energy deposition in molecular clouds. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2020).
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