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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 April 2016
Opacity influences the transfer of radiation and is thus of decisive importance for (a) the interpretation of astronomical observations, (b) determining the thermal structure, (c) critically influencing molecular, atomic and thermonuclear processes and (d) affecting the overall dynamic evolution during the star formation process. Questions pertaining to the onset of instability of gas clouds, their subsequent fragmentation into smaller clumps, the formation of multiple systems, the initial mass function (IMF), the upper and lower mass limits, star formation efficiency and the fate of material not collected into stars cannot be considered without intimate knowledge of the opacity in this environment.