Infrared Observations of Massive Star-Forming Regions

Abstract: Massive stars play crucial roles in determining the physical and chemical evolution of galaxies. They shape their environment from early in their protostellar phase when they blast their surroundings with powerful jets, up until their violent deaths in the form of supernova. However, they form deeply embedded in their parental clouds, making it challenging to directly observe these stars and immediate environments. Notwithstanding, their massive outflows can extend several parsecs and, because the accretion and ejection processes are intrinsically related, they can provide crucial information about the processes governing massive star formation close to the central engine and reveal the elusive massive protostars. There is also growing evidence that massive protostars may gather mass in episodic events, as evidenced by the knotty structure of jets and recent discoveries of accretion bursts. In this talk, I will take you on an observational journey in massive star-forming regions, focusing on the near infrared, including data from the HST, VLT, and LBT. I will also present a newly created Python package called ‘sedcreator,’ which is specifically developed to fit spectral energy distributions for massive protostars.