INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM
Molecular clouds are an important phase of the interstellar medium in both
the Milky Way and other galaxies, and the UMass group endeavors to better
understand the role these clouds play in galactic evolution. In the
past astronomers found that stars are formed in molecular clouds, but
now we seek to understand how this occurs. There is an incredible
chemical complexity and diversity in these clouds, and today we seek
to explain the nature of this chemistry and understand its
implications.
Many projects studying molecular clouds are currently underway at FCRAO
and other national and international radio observatories,
including numerous projects designed to study the evolution of clouds
and star formation. One example is an interlinked study of the
chemistry and physics of molecular clouds. Chemical models have
shown that the abundances of molecular species are strongly
time-dependent. Thus, the abundances of key molecular species may be
diagnostic of the evolutionary status of the cloud and allow the
physical structure of clouds to be tied to their evolutionary
history. In addition, numerous studies of the gravitational infall
signature and outflow signature associated with the birth of stars
are being done at FCRAO.
