10942( 1) - 04/03/06 11:02 - [ 1] HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE OBSERVING PROGRAM 10942 Version: 1 Check-in Time: 03-Apr-2006 15:02:08 Title Archival Imaging Survey of the Formation and Energy Feedback of Massive Protostars in the LMC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Type Cycle Parallel Pointing Tolerance AR 15 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Investigators Contact? PI: Dr. You-Hua Chu University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign CoI: Dr. Robert A. Gruendl University of Illinois at Urbana - N Champaign CoI: Dr. Leslie Looney University of Illinois at Urbana - N Champaign CoI: Dr. Rodolfo H. Barba Universidad de La Serena N CoI: Dr. Jesus Maiz-Apellaniz Space Telescope Science Institute - ESA N CoI: Ms. Rosie Chen University of Illinois at Urbana - N Champaign CoI: Dr. Barbara A. Whitney Space Science Institute N CoI: Dr. Wolfgang Brandner Max-Planck-Institut fur Astronomie, N Heidelberg CoI: Dr. Sean D. Points National Optical Astronomy Observatories - N CTIO CoI: Dr. Chris Smith National Optical Astronomy Observatories - N CTIO CoI: Dr. Rosa Williams University of Illinois at Urbana - N Champaign ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Abstract The formation of massive stars has a significant impact on the structure and evolution of the interstellar medium (ISM). After their birth, the energy feedback from the massive stars erodes the ambient medium and makes it impossible to reconstruct the physical conditions of the massive stars' natal environment; however, the energy feedback also produces conditions that lead to subsequent star formation. The ``second generation" protostars, not having altered their large-scale environment, provide an excellent opportunity to link the initial interstellar conditions to the final star formation product. Spitzer Space Telescope observations of the Large Magellanic Cloud have detected a large number of massive protostars; most of them are in HII complexes and correspond to second-generation star formation. We propose to use H-alpha and continuum images in the HST archive to examine the natal interstellar environments of massive protostars and assess whether the star formation was spontaneous or triggered. We will also search for compact HII regions and circumstellar ouflow interaction features of these massive protostars, and use their geometries to constrain the model fits of the protostars' spectral energy distributions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------