Anna F. McLeod et al.

We use MUSE data from the Very Large Telescope in Chile to analyse the effect of feedback from massive stars in the low-metallicity environment of the Large Magellanic Cloud.
For 11 HII regions in total, we identify and classify the feedback-driving stars and analyse their feedback effect in terms of energy and momentum input into the surrounding matter by linking them the feedback-affected gas in the HII regions.
We analyse the role of different stellar feedback mechanisms for each region by measuring the direct radiation pressure, the pressure of the ionised gas, and the pressure of the shock-heated winds. We find the expansion of the HII regiosn is mainly diven by stellar winds and ionised gas, while the pressure imparted by the stellar radiation is up to three orders of magnitude lower than the other pressure terms. We relate the total pressure to the star formation rate and find that stellar feedback has a negative effect on star formation, and sets an upper limit to the rate at which stars are formes as a function of increasing pressure.

Anna F. McLeod

With integral field data, taken with the MUSE instrument at the Very Large Telescope in Chile, we report the detection of the first optical jet launched by a massive young stellar object outside of the Milky Way.
The young star launching the jet is still in the process of accreting matter, and has an estimated mass of about 12 times that of the Sun. It is forming in our neighbour galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, and the bipolar jet spans a respectful 11 pc.
This discovery not only demonstrates that massive stars like this one can form via disk-mediated accretion and therefore circumvent the radiation pressure problem, it also opens the door to studying accretion procesed at low metallicities.
The paper was published in Nature in January 2018.

Want to know more about my work?

Please visit the Publications tab!