Astrophysics and Astronomy Commons^™

Infall As A Function Of Position And Molecular Tracer In Dense Cores., Jared Alan Keown

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

The standard model of prestellar core collapse suggests that this process works from the inside and moves outwards, with the fastest motions at the center. The relative abundances of many molecules also vary within cores, with certain molecules found only in specific regions characterized by narrow ranges of temperature and density. These characteristics lead to the hypothesis that the observed infall speeds in starless cores depend on both the position of the observations and the molecular tracer chosen. By measuring line emission at multiple positions across a core using an array of tracer molecules, one can determine whether these theoretical …