Physics & Astronomy Michael Dunham - Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory

"The Formation of Stars: Revealing the Physical Processes of Stellar Assembly"

Stars are the fundamental building blocks of galaxies, and the primary night sky objects visible to the naked eye.  As a result the study of stars is one of the oldest fields of astronomy.  While many aspects of stellar astrophysics are now well understood, the formation of stars remains an area of active investigation.  In particular, the astronomy community still does not fully understand the physical processes governing how stars gain their mass.  I will give a basic overview of how stars form and discuss my recent work studying the very youngest stars still in the process of forming, focusing on a resulting paradigm shift in our understanding of the stellar mass assembly process.  I will end with an overview of future directions needed to further advance our understanding of stellar formation.