UC San Diego researchers are using a plethora of XSEDE resources to provide a physical explanation for the origin of three observed correlations between various properties of molecular clouds in the Milky Way galaxy known as Larson’s Laws. The supercomputer simulations support a turbulent interpretation of Larson’s relations, and the study concludes that there are not three independent Larson laws, but that all three correlations are due to the same underlying physics, i.e. the properties of supersonic turbulence. XSEDE-allocated Trestles supercomputer at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), along with SDSC's Triton cluster and now-decommissioned DataStar system, were used to generate the simulations, as well as the XSEDE-allocated Kraken and Nautilus supercomputers at the National Institute for Computational Science, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. These unprecedented results were published this month in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Great Britain’s pre-eminent astronomy and astrophysics journal; the paper is called ‘A Supersonic Turbulence Origin of Larson’s Laws.' To read further, please visit http://www.sdsc.edu/News%20Items/PR102113_starformation.html.