Abstract

Contributed Talk - Splinter MassiveStars

Monday, 09 September 2024, 14:50   (S23)

The formation of massive stars - Confronting simulations and observations

Birka Zimmermann, Stefanie Walch
University of Cologne

High-mass star formation determines the evolution of galaxies due to their energetic feedback ((ionzing) radiation, stellar winds, and supernovae). However, the feedback from these stars will only affect their environment on parsec scales or beyond, once they have dispersed their parental molecular cloud core. Massive stars are initially deeply embedded, causing a delay between the birth of a massive star and the time from which on it is blowing a larger-scale bubble. In this initial phase, radiation pressure on gas and dust is particularly important. We investigate the formation and initial evolution of massive stars and their host cores up to the point where (ultra-)compact HII regions are established. We perform simulations of the gravitational collapse of isolated, parsec-scale, turbulent cores with the (magneto-)hydrodynamic code FLASH. We include a novel scheme to treat the radiation pressure on dust and gas as well as ionizing radiation. The hydrogen chemistry is followed as well such that the properties of the emerging ultra-compact HII regions are calculated self-consistently. We perform a parameter study, which forms a statistically relevant sample to investigate high-mass star formation and shows its relevance in the context of a rigorous comparison between simulations and observations.