An unstable truth: how massive stars get their mass
| Autor: | Mark R. Krumholz, Richard I. Klein, Christopher F. McKee, Anna L. Rosen |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
Physics
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences Field (physics) Star formation Turbulence FOS: Physical sciences Astronomy and Astrophysics Laminar flow Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics Astrophysics Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies 01 natural sciences Instability Gravitation Stars Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics Space and Planetary Science Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) 0103 physical sciences 010303 astronomy & astrophysics Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR) Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Cosmic dust |
| Zdroj: | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 463:2553-2573 |
| ISSN: | 1365-2966 0035-8711 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/mnras/stw2153 |
| Popis: | The pressure exerted by massive stars' radiation fields is an important mechanism regulating their formation. Detailed simulation of massive star formation therefore requires an accurate treatment of radiation. However, all published simulations have either used a diffusion approximation of limited validity; have only been able to simulate a single star fixed in space, thereby suppressing potentially-important instabilities; or did not provide adequate resolution at locations where instabilities may develop. To remedy this we have developed a new, highly accurate radiation algorithm that properly treats the absorption of the direct radiation field from stars and the re-emission and processing by interstellar dust. We use our new tool to perform three-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of the collapse of massive pre-stellar cores with laminar and turbulent initial conditions and properly resolve regions where we expect instabilities to grow. We find that mass is channeled to the stellar system via gravitational and Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instabilities, in agreement with previous results using stars capable of moving, but in disagreement with methods where the star is held fixed or with simulations that do not adequately resolve the development of RT instabilities. For laminar initial conditions, proper treatment of the direct radiation field produces later onset of instability, but does not suppress it entirely provided the edges of radiation-dominated bubbles are adequately resolved. Instabilities arise immediately for turbulent pre-stellar cores because the initial turbulence seeds the instabilities. Our results suggest that RT features are significant and should be present around accreting massive stars throughout their formation. 23 pages, 22 figures, 2 tables. Submitted to MNRAS. Simulation movies can be found here: https://anna-rosen.com/movies/ |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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