Studies of Galactic Star Forming Regions & related Instrumentation

The nearby isolated molecular clouds are compelling laboratories to study the evolution of globules and various modes and processes of star formation. Star formation can proceed in two different ways: spontaneous and triggered. In this talk, I will brieftion using three different techniques: (1) mapping of magnetic fields from polarization measuremly describe our studies on the radiation-driven implo- sion (RDI) mode of triggered star formaents, (2) molecu- lar line studies, and (3) spectroscopic studies. I have studied the magnetic field geometry and strength in various environments of molecular clouds e.g., cloud-cloud collision scenario, bright-rimmed clouds (BRCs), high-latitude clouds etc. To understand RDI processes, I performed the molecular line observations using four molecular lines towards two BRCs having different orientations of magnetic field lines with respect to the incoming ionizing radiation. To investigate the effect of RDI mode of triggered star formation on the accretion properties of young stars, I have carried out optical and NIR spectroscopic observations and compared these results with non-triggered star-forming regions like Taurus. In addition, I will also present my work on the optical design of a Wide-field polarimeter for the 130-cm optical tele- scope at Devasthal. Finally, I will briefly discuss a few research projects that I propose to carry out at TIFR.