Star formation in molecular clouds: observation and theory.
Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, (January 1987)DOI: 10.1146/annurev.aa.25.090187.000323
Abstract
Star-formation (SF) processes occurring on the scale of giant molecular
clouds (10 to the 6th solar masses and 10 to the 20th cm) or
smaller are discussed, reviewing the results of recent
theoretical and observational investigations. Topics examined
include the origin of stellar masses; bimodal SF; initial mass
functions; binary stars, bound clusters, and hierarchical
fragmentation; and the efficiency of SF. The properties of
molecular clouds and the origin of substructures in molecular
clumps are explored in detail, and consideration is given to
gravitational collapse and protostars, bipolar outflows from
young stellar objects, visible young stellar objects, and the
implications for binary-star and planetary-system formation.