附註:1. Introduction. 1.1. Our perception. 1.2. The story of star formation. 1.3. The early history. 1.4. Modern history. 1.5. Summary -- 2. The physics and chemistry. 2.1. Scales and ranges. 2.2. The ingredients. 2.3. Observations. 2.4. Processes. 2.5. Summary -- 3. The clouds. 3.1. Phases of the interstellar medium. 3.2. Weighing up molecular clouds. 3.3. Molecular clouds. 3.4. The internal dynamics and structure of clouds. 3.5. Rotation trends. 3.6. Structural analysis: fractals and filaments. 3.7. Summary: invisible clouds -- 4. Cloud formation, evolution and destruction. 4.1. The ages of clouds. 4.2. The origins of clouds. 4.3. The fate of a cloud. 4.4. Summary -- 5. Turbulence. 5.1. Concepts of turbulence. 5.2. Origin of turbulence. 5.3. The transfer to turbulence. 5.4. Dissipation of turbulence. 5.5. Computer simulations. 5.6. Collapse of turbulent clouds. 5.7. Molecules in turbulent clouds. 5.8. Summary: The new paradigm -- 6. TTe collapse. 6.1. Observing starless cores and pre-stellar cores. 6.2. Properties of starless cores. 6.3. Classical collapse scenarios. 6.4. Core theory. 6.5. Turbulent evolution of cores. 6.6. The approaching birth -- 7. The magnetic mediation. 7.1. Magnetic field observations. 7.2. Magnetohydrodynamics. 7.3. Magnetic field and flux. 7.4. Super-critical or sub-critical collapse? 7.5. Sub-critical contraction: ambipolar diffusion. 7.6. Spin. 7.7. MHD turbulence. 7.8. Summary.
8. The birth. 8.1. Commencement of life. 8.2. Identifying and classifying protostars. 8.3. Observations of protostellar cores. 8.4. Theory of accretion onto core. 8.5. Accretion rates from static initial states. 8.6. Protostellar accretion from turbulent clouds. 8.7. Number, age and statistics. 8.8. Protostellar evolution. 8.9. Protostellar envelopes. 8.10. Summary: observation versus theory. 9. The young stars. 9.1. T Tauri stars. 9.2. Class II and class III objects. 9.3. Location and number. 9.4. Accretion. 9.5. Class and disk evolution. 9.6. Interiors. 9.7. Giant flares, starspots and rotation. 9.8. Summary -- 10. Jets and outflows. 10.1. Classical bipolar outflows. 10.2. High-collimation bipolar outflows. 10.3. Molecular jets. 10.4. Atomic jets. 10.5. Herbig-Haro flows. 10.6. Launch theory. 10.7. Jet theory. 10.8. Outflow evolution. 10.9. Impact theory. 10.10. Summary -- 11. Massive stars. 11.1. Basic characteristics. 11.2. Compact H II regions. 11.3. Models for massive star environments. 11.4. Hot cores and masers. 11.5. Outflows from massive stars. 11.6. Accretion theory. 11.7. Formation within clusters. 11.8. Intermediate mass stars. 11.9. Summary -- 12. The distributions. 12.1. Types and prototypes. 12.2. Binarity and multiplicity. 12.3. Binarity: theory. 12.4. Nearby clusters: observations. 12.5. Cluster formation: theory. 12.6. Brown Dwarves and planets. 12.7. The masses of stars. 12.8. Summary -- 13. Cosmological star formation. 13.1. The first stars. 13.2. Cosmological star formation history. 13.3. Starbursts. 13.4. Star formation on galactic scales. 13.5. Globular clusters. 13.6. Summary.
摘要:Where do stars come from and how do they form? These are profound questions which link the nature of our Universe to the roots of mankind. Yet, until a recent revolution in understanding, the proposed answers have been raw speculation. Now, accompanying penetrating observations, a new picture has come into prominence. This book presents the latest astounding observations and scientific ideas covering star formation, star birth and early development. It encompasses all aspects, from the dramatic stories of individual objects, to the collective influence of entire stellar systems. The very first stars to come into existence and the nurturing of planets are discussed to provide the reader with a comprehensive overview. Presenting background information with only the essential mathematics, this book will appeal to scientists wishing to expand their horizons, students seeking solid foundations, and general readers with enquiring minds.
