Abstract
We study the evolution of molecular clouds under the influence of ionizing radiation. We propose that the Pipe Nebula is an HII region shell swept up by the B2 IV β Cephei star θ Ophiuchi. After reviewing the recent observations, we perform a series of analytical calculations. We are able to show that the current size, mass and pressure of the region can be explained in this scenario. The Pipe Nebula can be best described by a three phase medium in pressure equilibrium. The pressure support is provided by the ionized gas and mediated by an atomic component to confine the cores at the observed current pressure. We then present simulations on the future evolution as soon as the massive star explodes in a supernova. We show that a surviving core at the border of the HII-region (D = 5 pc) is getting enriched sufficiently with supernova material and is triggered into collapse fast enough to be consistent with the tight constraints put by meteoritic data of e.g.26Al on the formation of our Solar System. We therefore propose that the formation of the Solar System was triggered by the shock wave of a type IIa supernova interacting with surviving cold structures similar to the Pillars of Creation at the border of HII-regions.
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Acknowledgements
M.G. acknowledges funding by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in form of a Feodor-Lynen Fellowship and by the China National Postdoc Fund Grant No. 20100470108 and the National Science Foundation of China Grant No. 11003001. D.N.C.L. acknowledges funding by the NASA grant NNX08AL41G.
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© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
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Gritschneder, M., Lin, D.N.C. (2014). Triggering Star Formation: From the Pillars of Creation to the Formation of Our Solar System. In: Stamatellos, D., Goodwin, S., Ward-Thompson, D. (eds) The Labyrinth of Star Formation. Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, vol 36. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03041-8_35
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03041-8_35
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