Héctor Arce

I study how stars form and the physical and chemical processes that take place in the gas and dust between stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way. Using radio, millimeter, sub-millimeter, and infrared telescopes, I observe the regions where stars are born. Stars begin to form in dense parts of clouds of gas and dust, known as molecular cloud cores. These cores supply material to a forming star, or protostar, but outflows arising from the young star and its surrounding disk can push material away, impacting its growth. These outflows are important because they can limit how much material the protostar accumulates. The density and velocity structure of the gas around the forming star influence its formation, development, and final mass, as well as the creation of the disk where planets eventually form. My research focuses on these gas flows, both feeding the protostar and disk and the outflows affecting the surrounding environment, to understand how they contribute to star formation inside molecular clouds.