Sequentially Triggered Star Formation in OB Associations

Abstract

We discuss observational evidence for sequential and triggered star formation in OB associations. We first review the star formation process in the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association, the nearest OB association to the Sun, where several recent extensive studies have allowed us to reconstruct the star formation history in a rather detailed way. We then compare the observational results with those obtained for other OB associations and with recent models of rapid cloud and star formation in the turbulent interstellar medium. We conclude that the formation of whole OB subgroups (each consisting of several thousand stars) requires large-scale triggering mechanisms such as shocks from expanding wind and supernova driven superbubbles surrounding older subgroups. Other triggering mechanisms, like radiatively driven implosion of globules, also operate, but seem to be secondary processes, forming only small stellar groups rather than whole OB subgroups with thousands of stars.