Related papers: Are Infrared Dark Clouds Really Quiescent?

Ever since their discovery, Infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) are generally considered to be the sites just at the onset of high-mass (HM) star formation. In recent years, it has been realized that not all IRDCs harbour HM Young Stellar Objects…

Infrared Dark Clouds (IRDCs) host the initial conditions under which massive stars and stellar clusters form. We have obtained high sensitivity and high spectral resolution observations with the IRAM 30m antenna, which allowed us to perform…

Infrared-dark clouds (IRDCs) are the precursors to massive stars and stellar clusters. G011.11-0.12 is a well-studied filamentary IRDC, though, to date, the absence of far-infrared data with sufficient spatial resolution has limited the…

Infrared Dark Clouds (IRDCs), condensed regions of the ISM with high column densities, low temperatures and high masses, are suspected sites of star formation. Thousands of IRDCs have already been identified. To date, it has not been…

We present a multiwavelength study of the filamentary infrared dark cloud (IRDC) G333.73+0.37. The region contains two distinct mid-infrared sources S1 and S2 connected by dark lanes of gas and dust. Cold dust emission from the IRDC is…

The densest infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) may represent the earliest observable stage of high-mass star formation. These clouds are very cold, hence they emit mainly at far-infrared and sub-mm wavelengths. For the first time, Herschel has…

High-mass star forming regions are typically thought to be dominated by supersonic motions. We present combined Very Large Array and Green Bank Telescope (VLA+GBT) observations of NH$_3$ (1,1) and (2,2) in the infrared dark cloud (IRDC)…

We present a multiwavelength study of the infrared dark cloud MSXDC G034.43+00.24. Dust emission, traced by millimeter/submillimeter images obtained with the IRAM, JCMT, and CSO telescopes, reveals three compact cores within this infrared…

The initial conditions found in infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) provide insights on how high-mass stars and stellar clusters form. We have conducted high-angular resolution and high-sensitivity observations toward thirty-nine massive IRDC…

We obtained 350 and 850 micron continuum maps of the infrared dark cloud G049.40-00.01. Twenty-one dense clumps were identified within G049.40-00.01 based on the 350 micron continuum map with an angular resolution of about 9.6". We present…

How and when the mass distribution of stars in the Galaxy is set is one of the main issues of modern astronomy. Here we present a statistical study of mass and density distributions of infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) and fragments within them.…

Using infrared to (sub)millimeter data from Spitzer, Herschel, the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, and the IRAM 30-m telescope, we conducted an unbiased survey of the massive dense cores (MDCs) in the Cygnus X molecular cloud complex, aimed…

InfraRed Dark Clouds (IRDCs) are extinction features against the Galactic infrared background, mainly in mid-infrared band. Recently they were proposed to be potential sites of massive star formation. In this work we have made 12CO, 13CO,…

It is commonly assumed that cold and dense Infrared Dark Clouds (IRDCs) likely represent the birth sites massive stars. Therefore, this class of objects gets increasing attention. To enlarge the sample of well-characterised IRDCs in the…

The initial conditions of massive star and star cluster formation are expected to be cold, dense and high column density regions of the interstellar medium, which can reveal themselves via near, mid and even far-infrared absorption as…

The dense, cold gas of Infrared Dark Clouds (IRDCs) is thought to be representative of the initial conditions of massive star and star cluster formation. We analyze 13CO(J=1-0) line emission data from the Galactic Ring Survey of Jackson et…

We present a catalogue of starless and protostellar clumps associated with infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) in a 40 degrees wide region of the inner Galactic Plane (b<1). We have extracted the far-infrared (FIR) counterparts of 3493 IRDCs with…

We mapped the MSX dark cloud G084.81-01.09 in the NH3 (1,1) - (4,4) lines and in the J = 1-0 transitions of 12CO, 13CO, C18O and HCO+ in order to study the physical properties of infrared dark clouds, and to better understand the initial…

Massive stars (M $\gsim 10$ \msun) form from collapse of parsec-scale molecular clumps. How molecular clumps fragment to give rise to massive stars in a cluster with a distribution of masses is unclear. We search for cold cores that may…

Context: Despite their profound effect on the universe, the formation of massive stars and stellar clusters remains elusive. In the past decade, compelling evidence has emerged that suggests Infrared Dark Clouds (IRDCs) may be precursors to…