Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) is an international journal which publishes papers on all aspects of astronomy and astrophysics

We demonstrate the utility of dendrograms at representing the essential features of the hierarchical structure of the isosurfaces for molecular line data cubes. The dendrogram of a data cube is an abstraction of the changing topology of the isosurfaces as a function of contour level. The ability to track hierarchical structure over a range of scales makes this analysis philosophically different from local segmentation algorithms like CLUMPFIND. Points in the dendrogram structure correspond to specific volumes in data cubes defined by their bounding isosurfaces. We further refine the technique by measuring the properties associated with each isosurface in the analysis allowing for a multiscale calculation of molecular gas properties. Using COMPLETE 13CO(1-0) data from the L1448 region in Perseus and mock observations of a simulated data cube, we identify regions that have a significant contribution by self-gravity to their energetics on a range of scales. We find evidence for self-gravitation on all spatial scales in L1448 though not in all regions. In the simulated observations, nearly all of the emission is found in objects that would be self-gravitating if gravity were included in the simulation. We reconstruct the size-line width relationship within the data cube using the dendrogram-derived properties and find it follows the standard relation: s_v ~ R^0.58. Finally, we show that constructing the dendrogram of CO J=1-0 emission from the Orion-Monoceros region allows for the identification of giant molecular clouds in a blended molecular line data set using only a physically motivated definition (self-gravitating clouds with masses 5x10^4 Msun.

Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) is an international journal which publishes papers on all aspects of astronomy and astrophysics

Whether or not molecular clouds and embedded cloud fragments are stable against collapse is of utmost importance for the study of the star formation process. Only supercritical cloud fragments are able to collapse and form stars. The virial parameter α = M vir/M, which compares the virial mass to the actual mass, provides one way to gauge stability against collapse. Supercritical cloud fragments are characterized by α 2, as indicated by a comprehensive stability analysis considering perturbations in pressure and density gradients. Past research has suggested that virial parameters α 2 prevail in clouds. This would suggest that collapse toward star formation is a gradual and relatively slow process and that magnetic fields are not needed to explain the observed cloud structure. Here, we review a range of very recent observational studies that derive virial parameters 2 and compile a catalog of 1325 virial parameter estimates. Low values of α are in particular observed for regions of high-mass star formation (HMSF). These observations may argue for a more rapid and violent evolution during collapse. This would enable competitive accretion in HMSF, constrain some models of monolithic collapse, and might explain the absence of high-mass starless cores. Alternatively, the data could point at the presence of significant magnetic fields ~1 mG at high gas densities. We examine to what extent the derived observational properties might be biased by observational or theoretical uncertainties. For a wide range of reasonable parameters, our conclusions appear to be robust with respect to such biases.

Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) is an international journal which publishes papers on all aspects of astronomy and astrophysics

We present the results of a search for all embedded protostars with internal luminosities ≤1.0 L☉ in the full sample of nearby, low-mass star-forming regions surveyed by the Spitzer Space Telescope Legacy Project From Molecular Cores to Planet Forming Disks (c2d). The internal luminosity of a source, Lint, is the luminosity of the central source and excludes luminosity arising from external heating. On average, the Spitzer c2d data are sensitive to embedded protostars with -->Lint ≥ 4 × 10−3(d/140 pc)2 L☉, a factor of 25 better than the sensitivity of the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) to such objects. We present a set of selection criteria used to identify candidates from the Spitzer data and examine complementary data to decide whether each candidate is truly an embedded protostar. We find a tight correlation between the 70 μm flux and internal luminosity of a protostar, an empirical result based on both observations and detailed two-dimensional radiative transfer models of protostars. We identify 50 embedded protostars with -->Lint ≤ 1.0 L☉; 15 have -->Lint ≤ 0.1 L☉. The intrinsic distribution of source luminosities increases to lower luminosities. While we find sources down to the above sensitivity limit, indicating that the distribution may extend to luminosities lower than probed by these observations, we are able to rule out a continued rise in the distribution below -->Lint = 0.1 L☉. Between 75% and 85% of cores classified as starless prior to being observed by Spitzer remain starless to our luminosity sensitivity; the remaining 15%-25% harbor low-luminosity, embedded protostars. We compile complete spectral energy distributions for all 50 objects and calculate standard evolutionary signatures (Lbol, Tbol, and Lbol/Lsmm) and argue that these objects are inconsistent with the simplest picture of star formation, wherein mass accretes from the core onto the protostar at a constant rate.