Steve Longmore (UNSW/ATNF)

Steve Longmore PhD Thesis Colloquium

ATNF Marsfield Lecture Theatre

Abstract

Massive stars exert a profound influence on the chemical evolution and
energetics of the inter-stellar medium on a galactic scale. In an effort
to uncover the details of their formation process, which remain enigmatic,
we have previously isolated a sample of massive star forming regions in a
very early stage of evolution. I will present a multi-wavelength
observational study to derive the physical properties of the molecular
gas, ionised gas and (proto)stellar content within these regions. The aim
of this study is to determine the relative ages of the observed cores from
a combination of their physical properties and their association with
various star-formation tracers, and hence place them in a potential
evolutionary sequence.