Surveying Giant Molecular Clouds for Young Stars with the Spitzer Space Telescope
With its unique capability for mapping large fields with high sensitivities in the infrared, the Spitzer space telescope has now surveyed many of the molecular clouds within 1 kpc of our Sun. Young stars with dusty disks and envelopes can be easily recognized by their bright mid-IR emission, and these surveys have resulted in an unparalleled census of star formation in a wide range of environments, from nearby dark clouds such as Taurus, to giant molecular clouds in OB associations such as Orion. Focusing primarily on results from the Spitzer survey of the Orion molecular clouds, I will address three questions: 1.) what is the relative importance of clustered and isolated star formation in the nearest 1 kpc, 2.) how does the environment affect star and planet formation, and 3.) can we identify distinct modes of star formation? I will end by discussing the prospects for a more generalized understanding of star formation in the wide range of environments found in our galaxy and others.