Star Formation at milli-arcsecond resolution

Abstract

This chapter discusses the use and possibilities of optical and infrared interferometry to study star formation. The chapter starts with a brief overview of the star formation process and highlights the open questions from an observational point of view. These are found at the smallest scales, as this is, inevitably, where all the action such as accretion and outflows, occurs. We then use basic astrophysical concepts to assess which scales and conditions can be probed with existing interferometric set-ups for which we use the ESO/VLTI instrument suite as example. We will concentrate on the more massive stars observed at high resolution with continuum interferometry. Throughout, some of the most recent interferometric results are used as examples of the various processes discussed.

Chapter in the proceedings of "What can the highest angular resolution bring to stellar astrophysics?", Eds Millour et al.. The chapter is based on lectures given at the 2013 VLTI School held in Barcelonnette (France). 13 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (6)

• A hot compact dust disk around a massive young stellar object
• Detection of an inner gaseous component in a Herbig Be star accretion disk: Near- and mid-infrared spectro-interferometry and radiative transfer modeling of MWC 147
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• VLTI/MIDI 10 micron interferometry of the forming massive star W33A
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• A low optical depth region in the inner disk of the HerbigAe star HR5999