Study of triggered star formation in a bright-rimmed cloud

M. E. ORTEGA, S. PARON, E. GIACANI, A. PETRIELLA

Congreso; XIV Latin American Regional IAU Meeting; 2013

Bright-rimmed clouds (BRCs) are small and dense molecular clouds located in the periphery of the evolved HII regions. The illumination of these dark clumps by nearby OB stars might be responsible for triggered collapse and subsequent star formation through the mechanism known as radiation-driven implosion (RDI). We carried out a multi-wavelength study of a BRC located in the periphery of the evolved HII region G52.85-0.55. From the evaluation of the pressure balance between the ionized gas located at the illuminated border of the clump and the molecular gas, we show that shocks are being driven in the external layers of the BRC. On the other hand the pressure balance suggests that the birth of young stellar objects embedded in the BRC could have been initiated by the RDI mechanism.