A detailed Introductory book on Star Formation

[madbadgalaxyman (Robert)]

Dear all,

As I have been trying to come to some conclusions about star formation (or the lack thereof) in the nearby (500-600 light years) dusty Molecular Cloud that we call the Coalsack, I have been trying to come to grips with some of the obscure jargon and conventions used in the field of Star Formation studies.

The last time I seriously researched Professional Astronomers' knowledge about star formation (probably 10 years ago) , I found that the terminology that was used was not standardized,
and - worse still - that both the jargon and the concepts rapidly changed with time

Unfortunately, the situation is still the same today.
( I have another 15 papers on star formation.....just downloaded....time to get studying!!!)

If you want an up-to-date semi-popular level book on Star Formation, "In Darkness Born", by Martin Cohen (1988)(Cambridge University Press) can no longer be recommended, as the whole way that astronomers think about star formation has changed since this book was written. I enjoyed this book a couple of decades ago, but it is not in any way an introduction to star formation studies as they are done today. It is still an excellent read for the intermediate-to-advanced level amateur, but it is very far from being up-to-date.

Much more up-to-date is "The Origin of Stars" , by Michael D. Smith,
(2004), Imperial College Press or World Scientific Publishing.
I find that this book has definitions, jargon, and concepts that actually do relate to Star Formation research as it is done today. However, it is at a higher level than Cohen's book. A bit of University or advanced High School physics, and/or an ability to think in a physical or mathematical manner is an asset in reading this book, but an advanced-level amateur astronomer should be able to understand quite a lot of this book.....if she/he persists. (There is a lot of descriptive prose in this book, but there are also sections which require substantial knowledge of physics and algebra). This is probably a hard book to read for the majority of amateur astronomers, who may well find themselves having to look up (and puzzle over) physics, concepts, etc., in other books, but the rewards of this struggle will be in proportion to the amount of thinking that is provoked.....you will end up knowing a lot more about Star Formation than if you had read a book designed for a general readership. Smith's book is definitely a clear and cogent introduction, which is useful at readership levels up to "first few years of university", and it is also useful reading for professional scientists. The question is, should you read a more basic book than this and thereby take the risk of missing out on necessary details about Star Formation? ("easier book = dumber reader at the end")
Note: The amazon copies seem to be very expensive....so try elsewhere.

The changes in theoretical underpinnings and astronomical technology since Cohen's book have been so radical that this field of knowledge is in the middle of a revolution. Unfortunately, readers of Cohen's book will not realize this if they are new to the star formation game.

"The Birth of Stars and Planets" by John Bally and Bo Reipurth (Cambridge University Press, 2006) , looks like an easier read than Smith's book, but I have never read Bally and Reipurth. This book is at the semi-popular or general-readership level, or so the advertising states. See the preview of this book at //books.google.com.au
My initial impression (which could be mistaken) is that Bally & Reipurth do try to explain things fully, and don't oversimplify. (The glossing over of complexity in popular-level science books is notorious for increasing "readability" but greatly decreasing the understanding that is achieved by the reader!)
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cheers,
robert

If you go to:
http://www.solar-system-school.de
and then click on "lecture notes", and then scroll down the page to the "Origin of Solar Systems" lectures , you will find two sets of excellent lecture notes dealing with the early phases of star formation:

"Cloud Collapse"(part 1 and 2) by Tadesse and Jockers

"Early Phases of Protostars"(in three parts) by Dasi, Thalmann, and Lee
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The ridiculously complex terminology used in studies of the Interstellar Medium and Star Formation is well illustrated by this diagram reproduced from some recent lecture notes, which tries to categorize the various components of the molecular gas found in Galaxies:



No wonder the file-name is called "Interstellar Medium nightmare" !!!

[deniseselmo (Denise)]

Wonderful links. Thanks for sharing! The whole site is a gem. It will help me a lot.

[madbadgalaxyman (Robert)]

Originally Posted by deniseselmo

Wonderful links. Thanks for sharing! The whole site is a gem. It will help me a lot.

Thank you, Denise.

I am glad you find this information helpful.

There is a real "problem" with the language (definitions)(specialized jargon) used in Star Formation studies, because, 25 years ago, this was only a theoretical subject, and it is only recently that observations in the Far-infrared, sub-millimetre, and millimetre regimes have turned this into an observational science.
Star forming cores are small, and distant, and they are very highly obscured at visual wavelengths, and astronomers had only very poor angular resolution instruments available at these long wavelengths.......till the last 15 or 20 years.
Because "how exactly stars form" can only be discussed in the context of the last 20 years of observations, both the language and the concepts of this science have changed a lot in the last 20 years.

I am currently working on a document, which will be submitted into this forum, which attempts to define words such as "core", "starless core", prestellar core, type 0 object, type 1 object, type 2 object, etc.

The interstellar medium is an extremely complicated thing!!
(at last count, I have 16 books about it in my personal library.....)

best regards,
Robert

The star forming cores, from which low mass stars like the Sun form, are directly visible in the far-infrared regime. Even though these objects are cold (5-30 degrees Kelvin), their spectral energy distributions peak at similar wavelengths.
Herschel Space Telescope is able to directly detect these and other components of the very cold ISM....and Herschel can even resolve the interior of nearby cores e.g. in the Lupus, Taurus, and Rho Ophiuchi molecular clouds.
See, for example, the "Hi-GAL" survey (this can be found using google)
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If you are at the undergraduate or beginning graduate or "advanced amateur" level, I highly recommend "The Origin of Stars", by Michael D. Smith, which is a short and concise and very well written and Very Understandable summary of the field of Star Formation studies. (this book is probably too hard for most intermediate-level amateur astronomers)

"The Formation of Stars", by S.Stahler and F.Palla (published by Wiley) is another excellent book about star formation (there is more physics in it than in Smith's book).

Stahler & Palla contains very detailed information; enough to suit the requirements of people who want to become professional astronomers.
In contrast, when reading Smith's book, you have to think like a physicist or astronomer, but there is only a medium amount of algebra in his book, together with many long passages of description.