Evidence for dust evolution within the Taurus Complex from Spitzer images

Abstract

We present Spitzer images of the Taurus Complex (TC) and take advantage of the sensitivity and spatial resolution of the observations to characterize the diffuse IR emission across the cloud. This work highlights evidence of dust evolution within the translucent sections of the archetype reference for studies of quiescent molecular clouds. We combine Spitzer 160 um and IRAS 100 um observations to produce a dust temperature map and a far-IR dust opacity map at 5' resolution. The average dust temperature is about 14.5K with a dispersion of +/-1K across the cloud. The far-IR dust opacity is a factor 2 larger than the average value for the diffuse ISM. This opacity increase and the attenuation of the radiation field (RF) both contribute to account for the lower emission temperature of the large grains. The structure of the TC significantly changes in the mid-IR images that trace emission from PAHs and VSGs. We focus our analysis of the mid-IR emission to a range of ecliptic latitudes where the zodiacal light residuals are small. Within this cloud area, there are no 8 and 24 um counterparts to the brightest 160 um emission features. Conversely, the 8 and 24 um images reveal filamentary structure that is strikingly inconspicuous in the 160 um and extinction maps. The IR colors vary over sub-parsec distances across this filamentary structure. We compare the observed colors with model calculations quantifying the impact of the RF intensity and the abundance of stochastically heated particles on the dust SED. To match the range of observed colors, we have to invoke variations by a factor of a few of both the interstellar RF and the abundance of PAHs and VSGs. We conclude that within this filamentary structure a significant fraction of the dust mass cycles in and out the small size end of the dust size distribution.

43 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

References in corpus (10)

• Infrared Emission from Interstellar Dust. IV. The Silicate-Graphite-PAH Model in the Post-Spitzer Era
• Magnetically Regulated Star Formation in 3D: The Case of Taurus Molecular Cloud Complex
• Absolute Calibration and Characterization of the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer. III. An Asteroid-based Calibration of MIPS at 160 microns
• Spitzer/IRAC and ISOCAM/CVF insights on the origin of the Near to Mid-IR Galactic diffuse emission
• Dust processing in photodissociation regions - Mid-IR emission modelling
• Dust Emission from the Perseus Molecular Cloud
• Condensation of MgS in outflows from carbon stars
• The Effect of Noise in Dust Emission Maps on the Derivation of Column Density, Temperature and Emissivity Spectral Index
• Constraints on the nature of dust particles by infrared observations
• A Catalog of Background Stars Reddened by Dust in the Taurus Dark Clouds

Cited by in corpus (48)

• The CO-to-H2 Conversion Factor
• The global dust SED: Tracing the nature and evolution of dust with DustEM
• The relation between gas and dust in the Taurus Molecular Cloud
• Planck Early Results: Thermal dust in Nearby Molecular Clouds
• The State of the Gas and the Relation Between Gas and Star Formation at Low Metallicity: the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Planck intermediate results. XXIX. All-sky dust modelling with Planck, IRAS, and WISE observations
• Evolution of OH and CO-dark Molecular Gas Fraction Across a Molecular Cloud Boundary In Taurus
• Evidence for Environmental Changes in the Submillimeter Dust Opacity
• Variation in dust properties in a dense filament of the Taurus molecular complex (L1506)
• The Fundamentally Different Dynamics of Dust and Gas in Molecular Clouds
• The Dust Emissivity Spectral Index in the Starless Core TMC-1C
• The Hi-GAL catalogue of dusty filamentary structures in the Galactic Plane
• Dust, CO and [CI]: Cross-calibration of molecular gas mass tracers in metal-rich galaxies across cosmic time
• Cosmic rays, gas and dust in nearby anticentre clouds : I -- CO-to-H2 conversion factors and dust opacities
• Galactic cold cores V. Dust opacity
• Modelling the dust emission from dense interstellar clouds: disentangling the effects of radiative transfer and dust properties
• Dust in the diffuse emission of the galactic plane - The Herschel/Spitzer SED fitting
• The North American and Pelican Nebulae II. MIPS Observations and Analysis
• Mantle formation, coagulation and the origin of cloud/core-shine: II. Comparison with observations
• The dense cores and filamentary structure of the molecular cloud in Corona Australis. Herschel SPIRE and PACS observations from the Herschel Gould Belt Survey
• Indirect evidence of significant grain growth in young protostellar envelopes from polarized dust emission
• An accurate measurement of the anisotropies and mean level of the Cosmic Infrared Background at 100 and 160 um
• Spitzer characterisation of dust in an anomalous emission region: the Perseus cloud
• The Dynamics of Charged Dust in Magnetized Molecular Clouds
• Untangling the Nature of Spatial Variations of Cold Dust Properties in Star Forming Galaxies
• Tracing the Energetics and Evolution of Dust with Spitzer: a Chapter in the History of the Eagle Nebula
• Some Stars are Totally Metal: A New Mechanism Driving Dust Across Star-Forming Clouds, and Consequences for Planets, Stars, and Galaxies
• The Spitzer Survey of Interstellar Clouds in the Gould Belt. V. Ophiuchus North Observed with IRAC and MIPS
• CH as a Molecular Gas Tracer and C-Shock Tracer Across a Molecular Cloud Boundary in Taurus
• Dust evolution across the Horsehead Nebula
• Cosmic-rays, gas, and dust in nearby anti-centre clouds : III -- Dust extinction, emission, and grain properties
• On the Limitations of the Anomalous Microwave Emission Emissivity
• Evidence for Decay of Turbulence by MHD Shocks in Molecular Clouds via CO Emission
• Variations between Dust and Gas in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium. 3. Changes in Dust Properties
• The hydroxyl satellite-line `flip' as a tracer of expanding HII regions
• The Effect of Far-infrared Radiation on the Hyperfine Anomaly of the OH 18 cm Transition
• Spinning nano-carbon grains: Viable origin for anomalous microwave emission
• Interstellar extinction in Orion. Variation of the strength of the UV bump across the complex
• Photon-Dominated Region Modeling of the [C I],[C II], and CO Line Emission from a Boundary in the Taurus Molecular Cloud
• L1599B: Cloud Envelope and C+ Emission in a Region of Moderately Enhanced Radiation Field
• Variation of the ultraviolet extinction law across the Taurus-Auriga star forming complex. A GALEX based study
• Are the Formation and Abundances of Metal-Poor Stars the Result of Dust Dynamics?
• The Transition from Diffuse Molecular Gas to Molecular Cloud Material in Taurus
• The HI supershell GS 118+01-44 and its role in the interstellar medium
• Formation of dust filaments in the diffuse envelopes of molecular clouds
• Dust-Evacuated Zones Near Massive Stars: Consequences of Dust Dynamics on Star-forming Regions
• Influence of the nano-grain depletion in photon-dominated regions: Application to the gas physics and chemistry in the Horsehead
• Dust emission and extinction in the Orion OMC-3 cloud