THE UNIVERSAL TIME-EVOLUTION OF AN EXPANDING HII REGION

We present new models for the expansion of an HII region into a uniform environment. With a thin-shell model and with full, gasdynamic (+radiative transfer), spherically symmetric simulations, we demonstrate that observed HII regions are in a parameter regime for which there is a universal, dimensio...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: A. C. Raga, J. Cantó, L. F. Rodríguez
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2012
País:México
Institución:Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Repositorio:Redalyc-UNAM
OAI Identifier:oai:redalyc.org:57124416011
Acceso en línea:https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=57124416011
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Física, Astronomía y Matemáticas
HII regions
ISM: evolution
stars: formation
ISM: kinematics and dynamics
Descripción
Sumario:We present new models for the expansion of an HII region into a uniform environment. With a thin-shell model and with full, gasdynamic (+radiative transfer), spherically symmetric simulations, we demonstrate that observed HII regions are in a parameter regime for which there is a universal, dimensionless expansion law. This universal expansion solution is derived from the thin shell model and fromthe numerical simulations. A comparison between the two types of model shows that the thin shell formalism is valid only for the early phases of the HII region expansion. Finally, we tabulate the "universal law" (derived from the spherically symmetric simulations) and give an analytic approximation to this law, which can be scaled to obtain the radius vs. time of any observed HII region.