Prof. Dr. Gary Fuller, Invited Lecture, Spanish Astronomical Society Meeting, Granada, Spain:
Most stars in our galaxy form as part of a cluster of stars and these clusters often contain one or more high mass (M>8 Msol) stars. The energy injected back into their environment over the lifetimes of these stars profoundly impacts the evolution of the cluster. These clusters are believed to form in dense, parsec-sized regions sub-structures in molecular clouds, often called clumps. In this presentation I will discuss a range of recent results which probe the structure and evolution of cluster forming clumps and the young stars within them. I will then briefly discuss how future capabilities will help address the fundamental questions about the formation of massive stars and their associated stellar clusters, the circumstellar disks and ultimately the planetary systems which form within these disks.
