A Detailed Look at the Perseus Molecular Cloud with Herschel

Sarah Sadavoy

Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie

We present new Herschel observations at 70, 160, 250, 350, and 500 microns of the nearby Perseus molecular cloud from the Herschel Gould Belt Survey. The Herschel observations are used to characterize and contrast the properties of the seven star-forming clumps in Perseus, and to study their embedded core populations. Additionally, we use complementary archival infrared observations to identify the populations of young stellar objects (YSOs) in each clump. We find that several clumps have different properties, including a very young clump likely fragmenting for the first time, a clump influenced by a higher external radiation field, and a clump with very dense structures suggestive of higher external pressures. We also find that the highest-mass clumps have an excess of older-stage YSOs, indicating that these regions contracted first. Additionally, the clumps with the most prominent high column density tails also had the highest fractions of early-stage YSOs. This relation suggests that the quantity of high column density material corresponds to recent bursts of star formation and not the star formation history.

Date:	Mardi, le 17 décembre 2013
Heure:	11:30
Lieu:	Université de Montréal
	Pavillon Roger-Gaudry, local D-460
Contact:	Pierre Bastien