1. Star and Planet Formation SOFIA Science Vision Theme Working Group

2. The Theme Team Areas of specialized expertise (not all-inclusive, and there is a lot of general expertise overlap): Neal Evans (U.Texas) – Lead - Observations of molecular clouds, low-mass star and disk formation (with concentration on FIR/submm/mm) James De Buizer (SOFIA) - Deputy - Observations of massive star formation, hot molecular cores, HII regions (with concentration on NIR/MIR) Murad Hamidouche (SOFIA) - Modeling and observations of intermediate-mass stars’ disks (Herbig Ae/Be stars) from the far-IR to mm, Probing the origin of their X-Rays, and Interstellar scintillation Thomas Henning (Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie) - Dust/solid state chemistry, massive star formation theory/observations, planet formation theory/observations John Bally (U. Colorado) - Outflows and jets, HH objects, feedback and triggering in star formation regions, Orion proplyds Ewine van Dishoeck* (Leiden Obs.) and Floris van der Tak (SRON) - Gas chemistry and dynamics from protostellar clouds to disks, PDRs around massive stars, and HII regions * Ewine is expected to counsel only, Floris (Ewine’s ex-student) will play a more active role (models/calculations/editing/etc) when and if needed

3. Tentative Schedule DateTask June 10Initial group telecon to discuss scheduling, workloads, and discuss preliminary science ideas Mid to late June Collecting/iterating ideas and input from working group (via email and weekly telecons) Early JulyEvans and De Buizer distill ideas and begin write-up with continued input from group Aug 22Wrap-up writing of first draft of Star and Planet Formation section Aug 29Send first draft of complete Vision document to the Science Council Neal’s Philosophy: Work will begin at start of academic summer (June). Input from working group, but the write-up will be done by Lead with help from the Deputy. This write-up will occur during the months of July and August