Project/Area Number |
14102003
|
Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S)
|
Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
Research Field |
Astronomy
|
Research Institution | Nagoya University |
Principal Investigator |
FUKUI Yasuo Nagoya University, Department of Physics, Professor, 大学院・理学研究科, 教授 (30135298)
|
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
MIZUNO Akira Nagoya University, Solar-Terrestrial Environment Lab., Professor, 太陽地球環境研究所, 教授 (80212231)
ONISHI Toshikazu Nagoya University, Department of Physics, Associate Professor, 大学院・理学研究科, 助教授 (30314058)
OGAWA Hideo Osaka Prefecture University, Department of Physical Science, Professor, 大学院・理学系研究科, 教授 (20022717)
YONEKURA Yoshinori Osaka Prefecture University, Department of Physical Science, Lecturer, 大学院・理学系研究科, 助手 (90305665)
|
Project Period (FY) |
2002 – 2005
|
Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2005)
|
Budget Amount *help |
¥110,240,000 (Direct Cost: ¥84,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥25,440,000)
Fiscal Year 2005: ¥5,460,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,260,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥28,470,000 (Direct Cost: ¥21,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥6,570,000)
Fiscal Year 2003: ¥31,590,000 (Direct Cost: ¥24,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥7,290,000)
Fiscal Year 2002: ¥44,720,000 (Direct Cost: ¥34,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥10,320,000)
|
Keywords | Molecular Clouds / mm-submm astronomy / Our Galaxy / Large and Small Magellanic Clouds / Interstellar Medium / Supershell / 大小マゼラン銀河 / 電波望遠鏡 / 膨張ガスシェル / 星間分子 / マゼラン銀河 / Warp構造 / 誘発的星形成 |
Research Abstract |
This research aimed at revealing the physical process of star formation in galactic evolution with an emphasis on the possible role of supershells. The method we employed was to make a detailed study of molecular clouds and star formation in the three galaxies of the Local group, the Milky Way, and the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. We have revealed unprecedented details of the evolutionary scheme of molecular clouds on a galactic scale and conclude that the role of supershells is not dominant as compared with the other processes including stochastic turbulent compression. In the course of this research, we first showed that the Large Magellanic Cloud is the most reliable galaxy among the three, because the other two have much smaller number of samples with significance, around only 20-30, due to the contamination or the less active star formation. The Large Magellanic Cloud on the other hand has nearly 200 samples that allowed to make significant comparison with signs of massive star formation. We used observational data on HII regions and young star clusters taken elsewhere to identify massive star formation in the individual molecular clouds to reveal the three classes of molecular clouds, (1)starless, (2)with HII regions only and (3)with clusters and rich HII regions. These three classes likely represent the evolutionary sequence and the complete statistics in the Large Cloud allowed us to estimate the whole evolutionary timescale for the first time in a single galaxy. These results are highly evaluated in the international community and several invited talks were given on the subject in the past international meetings including Protostars and Planet V in 2005.
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