Preliminaries -- Oral Presentation

Studying Star Formation with the Submillimeter Array

Paul T.P. Ho, CfA

The Submillimeter Array (SMA), jointly constructed by the SAO and the ASIAA, began regular operations at the end of 2003 on Mauna Kea. The SMA, operating at a wavelength shortward of 1mm, is particularly sensitive to the dust continuum emission as well as many new spectral lines which are sensitive to high density and temperature. For studying star formation, cluster formation, and the interstellar medium, the SMA provides sub-arcsecond resolution which can reveal the structure and the kinematics in the inner dense cores. This talk will present some of the latest results from the SMA, which demonstrate the current capabilities.