Variable mass accretion is thought to be an important aspect of protostar formation. Mid-infrared wavelength observations trace variations in accretion luminosity and thus can probe mass accretion on sub-AU scales. We present results from the Spitzer YSOVAR campaign towards Class I protostars in NGC 2264. The precise (0.02 mag) medium-cadence light curves at 3.6 and 4.5 microns show that young star variability is ubiquitous, with a variety of morphologies and time scales. A structure function analysis shows the light curves, on average, have a power-law behavior up to 30 days. The trend continues to longer timescales (years) for protostars (Class I), in contrast with the smaller brightness changes displayed by T Tauri stars (Class II). The power-law behavior suggests a stochastic process, such as turbulent mass accretion, drives the variability.

The Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (DRAO) is carrying out a survey as part of an international collaboration to image the northe, at a common resolution, in emission from all major constituents of the interstellar medium; the neutral atomic gas, the molecular gas, the ionised gas, dust and relativistic plasma. For many of these constituents the angular resolution of the images (1 arcmin) will be more than a factor of 10 better than any previous studies. The aim is to produce a publicly-available database of high resolution, high-dynamic range images of the Galaxy for multi-phase studies of the physical states and processes in the interstellar medium. We will sketch the main scientific motivations as well as describe some preliminary results from the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey/Releve Canadien du Plan Galactique (CGPS/RCPG).

We report preliminary results from a deep I-band optical search for substellar candidates in the p Oph star-forming region. The dusty molecular cloud provides an opaque screen at optical wavelengths, making the survey sensitive to faint substellar candidates near the cloud surface. Of the 89 objects detected in the oph A and oph C molecular cores, one third are substellar candidates.

We present results from a near-infrared array, CO interferometer, and H 2 O maser interferometer survey of the circumstellar environments of 26 young low-luminosity embedded stars located in nearby molecular clouds. About 75% of the sample show evidence for stellar winds/outflows in the near-infrared or CO data indicating that most of these sources are in the early wind clearing phase of their evolution. Close to 15% are multiple on the scale of 20″, suggesting that fragmentation of their surrounding dense cloud cores is important before or during gravitational collapse. Roughly 10% have H 2 O maser emission and the kinematics imply the masers arise in gravitationally unbound gas (i.e., a stellar wind or outflow) rather than in a circumstellar disk.

W49 is the most luminous H II region complex in the galaxy. VLA maps in the continuum reveal a complex of more than two dozen compact HII regions, including a ring-like distribution of a dozen such regions within a volume of 1 pc. In addition to the VLA maps, we have obtained high resolution maps in this field with the Hat Creek Millimeter Interferometer in the following molecular lines: HCO+(1-0), H13CO+(1-0), SiO(v = 0, J = 2-1), SiO(v = 1, J = 2-1), H13CN(1-0), HC15N(1-0), SO2 [8(3,5)-9(2,8)], SO2[8(1,7)-8(0,8)], SO[2(2)-1(1)], and CH3CH2CN[10(1,10)-9(1,9)], all near 3 mm wavelengh. These maps will be discussed. The HCO+distribution corresponds to the larger scale structures observed in the continuum maps. In contrast the SO and SiO sources are quite compact. Using the detailed molecular line results obtained in the ORION/KL region as a guide, we are able to identify these latter sources as regions in which the star formation is at an earlier stage, regions where there are outflows.