Surveys for OB protostars

Abstract

The specificity of the formation of OB stars and the importance of understanding the origin of stellar masses up to the highest masses justify an effort to identify the protostellar precursors of high-mass stars. We show that, due to the relatively large distance of essentially all OB protostars, to resolve individual protostellar objects, only millimeter interferometers such as the Plateau de Bure IRAM 6×15 m can be used. Large-scale imaging surveys at (sub)millimeter wavelengths are powerful to identify OB star formation sites and crucial to get a good census of the most nearby OB protostars. These recognized OB protostars will then be the prime targets for the new generation of high resolution instruments (HSO, ALMA and JWST)