Revealing a detailed mass distribution of a high-density core MC27/L1521F in Taurus with ALMA

Abstract

We present the results of ALMA observations of dust continuum emission and molecular rotational lines toward a dense core MC27 (aka L1521F) in Taurus, which is considered to be at a very early stage of star formation. The detailed column density distribution on size scales from a few tens AU to ~10,000 AU scale are revealed by combining the ALMA (12 m array + 7 m array) data with the published/unpublished single-dish data. The high angular resolution observations at 0.87 mm with a synthesized beam size of ~0."74 x 0."32 reveal that a protostellar source, MMS-1, is not spatially resolved and lacks associated gas emission, while a starless high-density core, MMS-2, has substructures both in dust and molecular emission. The averaged radial column density distribution of the inner part of MC27/L1521F (r $\lesssim$ 3000 AU) is N(H2) ~r${}^{-0.4}$, clearly flatter than that of the outer part, ~r${}^{-1.0}$. The complex velocity/spatial structure obtained with previous ALMA observations is located inside the inner flatter region, which may reflect the dynamical status of the dense core.

30 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ