Stars form within molecular clouds but our understanding of this fundamental process
remains hampered by the complexity of the physics that drives their evolution. We review our …

Molecular clouds are a fundamental ingredient of galaxies: they are the channels that
transform the diffuse gas into stars. The detailed process of how they do it is not completely …

We present a theoretical framework in which bound stellar clusters arise naturally at the high-
density end of the hierarchy of the interstellar medium (ISM). Due to short free-fall times …

We present high-resolution, high dynamic range column-density and color-temperature
maps of the Orion complex using a combination of Planck dust-emission maps, Herschel …

It has been recently shown that molecular clouds do not exhibit a unique shape for the
column density probability distribution function (N-PDF). Instead, clouds without star …

In this Letter we investigate the shape of the probability distribution of column densities
(PDF) in molecular clouds. Through the use of low-noise, extinction-calibrated …

We review recent advances in the analytical and numerical modeling of the star formation
rate in molecular clouds and discuss the available observational constraints. We focus on …

We present a near-infrared extinction map of a large region (approximately 2200 deg 2)
covering the Orion, the Monoceros R2, the Rosette, and the Canis Major molecular clouds …

We study the carbon monoxide (CO) excitation, mean molecular gas density, and interstellar
radiation field (ISRF) intensity in a comprehensive sample of 76 galaxies from local to high …

We map the distribution of dust in M31 at 25 pc resolution using stellar photometry from the
Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury survey. The map is derived with a new …