| Observations of a Compact (<1000 AU) MYSO Cluster with HST (2009) | |||||||||||||
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| Observations show that most, if not all, massive stars form in clusters. This combination of massive stars and clusters has led to the suggestions that massive stars form by coalescence after stellar collisions or by enhanced accretion due to the gravitational potential of the cluster instead of the accretion through a disk embedded in an isolated natal cloud that is the current paradigm for low-mass star formation. We have been studying the massive young stellar objects (MYSOs) in the nearest star-forming regions using 2 �m polarimetry with the 0.2' ' resolution of the Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) on Hubble Space Telescope (HST). These stars, which are still embedded in dense envelopes, have cones of scattered light along their outflow axes. Through polarimetry we can infer the orientation and illuminating star of each observed outflow; thanks to our good spatial resolution we can also observe twists in the outflow axes (possibly due to precession) and other asymmetries and irregularities that indicate the outflows are episodic or are influenced by neighboring stars. Mon R2 IRS3 is one of the most interesting of our targets. This compact stellar group is found near the | |||||||||||||
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