SOFIA Highlights: Star formation
![Average spectra of the [CII] emission for M17 SW superposed on a composite image](https://www.sofia.usra.edu/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/Public/SOFIA_Spitzer_M17_inset.png?itok=2ZxTXevq "Average spectra of the [CII] emission for M17 SW superposed on a composite image")
By Cristian Guevara and Joan Schmelz
Paper: [C II] 158 µm self-absorption and optical depth effects
Guevara, C., et al., 2020/04, A&A, 636A, A16.
Photodissociation Regions (PDRs) are zones of the interstellar medium in which Far-UV photons dominate the thermal balance, chemistry, structure, as well as the distribution of the gas and dust. The incident FUV field photodissociates molecules, photoionizes atoms and molecules, and heats the gas and dust.
By Andrew Barr, Alexander Tielens, and Joan Schmelz
Paper: High-resolution Infrared Spectroscopy of Hot Molecular Gas in AFGL 2591 and AFGL 2136: Accretion in the Inner Regions of Disks around Massive Young Stellar Objects
Barr, Andrew G., et al., 2020/09, ApJ, 900, 104.
By Elena Redaelli and Joan Schmelz
Paper: Magnetic Properties of the Protostellar Core IRAS 15398-3359
E. Redaelli, et al., 2019 A&A, 631, A154.
By Thushara Pillai and Joan Schmelz
Paper: Magnetized filamentary gas flows feeding the young embedded cluster in Serpens South
Pillai, T.G., et al., 2020, Nat Astron (2020).
By Wanggi Lim and Joan Schmelz
Paper: Surveying the Giant H ii Regions of the Milky Way with SOFIA. II. M17
Lim, et al., 2020, ApJ, 888, 98.
By Maggie Thompson, Ralph Shuping, and Joan Schmelz
Paper: Studying the Evolution of Warm Dust Encircling BD +20 307 Using SOFIA
Thompson, Maggie A., et al., 2019, ApJ, 875, 45.
Recent observations from SOFIA of a binary star system designated BD +20 307 indicate that there may have been a catastrophic collision between two planets within the last 10 years.
By W. Lim, J. De Buizer, R. Klein, and J. Schmelz (USRA)
Paper: Surveying the Giant HII Regions of the Milky Way with SOFIA. I. W51A
Lim and De Buizer 2019, ApJ, 873, 51.
By Kassandra Bell and Joan Schmelz (USRA)
Paper: Disruption of the Orion molecular core 1 by wind from the massive star θ1 Orionis C
Pabst et al. 2019, Nature, doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0844-1
New data from NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA, reveal a three-dimensional (3-D) view of the Orion Nebula – Earth’s closest star-formation nursery – and a powerful stellar wind. Researchers can rotate, zoom in, and even dive through this data cube to better understand how stars are forming.
By Kassandra Bell and Joan Schmelz (USRA)
Paper: The Inception of Star Cluster Formation Revealed by [CII] Emission Around an Infrared Dark Cloud
Bisbas, Tan et al. 2018, MNRAS, 478, L54.
