NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2005A-0083
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NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2005A-0083 |
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PI: Sidney Wolff, NOAO, swolff@noao.edu
Address: N/A, 950 North Cherry Ave, Tucson, AZ 85719
CoI: Stephen Strom, NOAO
Title: Probing High Mass Star Formation via Observations of Stellar Rotation
Abstract: We propose to obtain WIYN-Hydra spectra and OPTIC imaging of a sample of ~400 pre-main sequence and ZAMS stars located in the young (t < 2 Myr) cluster NGC 6611 and having masses ranging from 3 to 85 M_\odot. Our goals are to determine: 1) whether the initial distribution of stellar angular momenta as a function of mass is consistent with a single star formation mechanism over this entire mass range (e.g., magnetically-mediated disk accretion) or whether discontinuities in the angular momentum-mass distribution indicate that a different formation mechanism (e.g., stellar or protostellar mergers) is required for the most massive stars; 2) whether accretion rates during the main stellar assembly phase are nearly identical for all B stars of a given mass, or vary significantly from star to star; and 3) whether in this cluster the star formation rate was approximately constant with time or whether there is evidence of a ``burst", perhaps ``triggered" by propagation of an ionization front driven by early- forming massive stars.
National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, P.O. Box 26732, Tucson, Arizona 85726, Phone: (520) 318-8000, Fax: (520) 318-8360
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NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2005A-0083 |
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