Local Star Formation History：A Gaia-Era Perspective
by
Open Area (4F-SW)
Tsung-Dao Lee Institute
Host: Xianyu Tan
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Abstract:
The Gaia mission has revolutionized our view of star formation in the solar neighborhood, transforming our understanding from a 2D patchwork of clouds and clusters into a coherent 3D timeline of stellar birth. By combining Gaia's precise astrometry with advanced 3D dust mapping and multi-wavelength surveys, we have uncovered the true spatial and dynamical structure of nearby star-forming regions. Key findings include the discovery of large gas structures which organize star formation on scales far larger than previously recognized. These structures exhibit age and kinematic gradients, indicating that star formation has been strongly influenced by feedback-driven triggering—from supernova bubbles like the Local Bubble to localized events such as the Orion "Big Blast." Furthermore, young stellar populations are now seen to form in expanding coronae and elongated streams, linking embedded clusters to the distributed field. This talk will synthesize how Gaia-era data reveal a multi-episodic, dynamically driven history of star formation.
Biography:
Min Fang earned his Ph.D. from Heidelberg University (Germany), where his doctoral research was conducted at the Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy. Following graduation, he held postdoctoral positions at several leading institutions, including the Autonomous University of Madrid (Spain), the University of Arizona, and the California Institute of Technology (USA). Since 2021, he has been affiliated with the Purple Mountain Observatory. His research focuses on fundamental questions in star and planet formation.
