The Evolution of Density Structure of Starless and Protostellar Cores
arXiv:0912.4738 · doi:10.1088/0004-637X/710/1/207
Abstract
We present a near-infrared extinction study of nine dense cores at evolutionary stages between starless to Class I. Our results show that the density structure of all but one observed cores can be modeled with a single power law rho \propto r^p between ~ 0.2R-R of the cores. The starless cores in our sample show two different types of density structures, one follows p ~ -1.0 and the other follows p ~ -2.5, while the protostellar cores all have p ~ -2.5. The similarity between the prestellar cores with p ~ -2.5 and protostellar cores implies that those prestellar cores could be evolving towards the protostellar stage. The slope of p ~ -2.5 is steeper than that of an singular isothermal sphere, which may be interpreted with the evolutionary model of cores with finite mass.
19 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal
References in corpus (5)
- MAMBO Mapping of Spitzer c2d Small Clouds and Cores
- Comparing Star Formation on Large Scales in the c2d Legacy Clouds: Bolocam 1.1 mm Dust Continuum Surveys of Serpens, Perseus, and Ophiuchus
- The Mid-Infrared Extinction Law in the Ophiuchus, Perseus, and Serpens Molecular Clouds
- Testing Gravity in the Outer Solar System: Results from Trans-Neptunian Objects
- A comparison of density structures of a star forming and a non-star-forming globule. DCld303.8-14.2 and Thumbprint Nebula
Cited by in corpus (7)
- Density profile evolution during prestellar core collapse: Collapse starts at the large scale
- Density Structure of Centrally Concentrated Prestellar Cores from Multi-scale Observations
- Formation of low-mass condensations in the molecular cloud cores via thermal instability
- The hydrodynamical models of the cometary compact H II region
- Variable protostellar mass accretion rates in cloud cores
- Investigating the effects of chemistry on molecular line profiles of infalling low mass cores
- Modeling Two First Hydrostatic Core Candidates Barnard 1b-N and 1b-S