Related papers: Hunting pre-stellar cores with APEX: overview

To constrain models of high-mass star formation, the Herschel/HOBYS KP aims at discovering massive dense cores (MDCs) able to host the high-mass analogs of low-mass prestellar cores, which have been searched for over the past decade. We…

We present deep 1.8 cm (16 GHz) radio continuum imaging of seven young stellar objects in the Taurus molecular cloud. These objects have previously been extensively studied in the sub-mm to NIR range and their SEDs modelled to provide…

We used the new IRAM 30-m FTS backend to perform an unbiased ~15 GHz wide survey at 3 mm toward the Pipe Nebula young diffuse starless cores. We found an unexpectedly rich chemistry. We propose a new observational classification based on…

Cold dark clouds are nearby members of the densest and coldest phase in the galactic interstellar medium, and represent the most accessible sites where stars like our Sun are currently being born. In this review we discuss recent progress…

Seven isolated, nearby low-mass starless molecular cloud cores have been observed as part of the Herschel key program Earliest Phases of Star formation (EPoS). By applying a ray-tracing technique to the obtained continuum emission and…

L1521E is a dense starless core in Taurus that was found to have relatively low molecular depletion by earlier studies, thus suggesting a recent formation. We aim to characterize the chemical structure of L1521E and compare it to the more…

Chamaeleon I is the most active region in terms of star formation in the Chamaeleon molecular cloud complex. Its population of prestellar and protostellar cores is not known and a controversy exists concerning its history of star formation.…

Dust grains play a key role in the physics of star-forming regions, even though they constitute only $\sim$1 % of the mass of the interstellar medium. The derivation of accurate dust parameters such as temperature ($T_{dust}$), emissivity…

We investigate the star formation occurring in the Planck Galactic cold clump PGCC 120.69+2.66. Near-infrared JHKs images and K-band spectroscopy obtained with NOTCam at the Nordic Optical Telescope complemented with archive data are used…

We use PACS and SPIRE continuum data at 160 um, 250 um, 350 um, and 500 um from the Herschel Gould Belt Survey to sample seven clumps in Perseus: B1, B1-E, B5, IC348, L1448, L1455, and NGC1333. Additionally, we identify and characterize the…

Context: Chemical models of dense cloud cores often utilize the so-called pseudo-time-dependent approximation, in which the physical conditions are held fixed and uniform as the chemistry occurs. In this approximation, the initial…

Aims: Interstellar molecules form early in the evolutionary sequence of interstellar material that eventually forms stars and planets. To understand this evolutionary sequence, it is important to characterize the chemical composition of its…

UltraCompact HII regions are signposts of high mass star formation. Since high-mass star formation occurs in clusters, one expects to find even earlier phases of massive star formation in the vicinity of UltraCompact HII regions. Here, we…

Our knowledge of the initial conditions and early stages of high mass star formation is very limited. We will review recent surveys of regions in the early stages of massive star formation using molecular tracers of high density and dust…

Understanding the initial conditions of star formation requires both observational studies and theoretical works taking into account the magnetic field, which plays an important role in star formation processes. Herein, we study the young…

We examine the spatial distribution and mass segregation of dense molecular cloud cores in a number of nearby star forming regions that span about four orders of magnitude in star formation activity. We use an approach based on the…

Prestellar cores represent the initial conditions of star formation, but heavy molecules such as CO are strongly depleted in their cold, dense interiors, limiting the ability to probe core centers. Deuterated molecular ions therefore emerge…

We study star formation in the Center Ridge 1 (CR1) clump in the Vela C giant molecular cloud, selected as a high column density region that shows the lowest level of dust continuum polarization angle dispersion, likely indicating that the…

We present maps of the 6 cm and 1.3 mm transitions of formaldehyde toward three cold, dense pre-protostellar cores: L1498, L1512, and L1544. The 6 cm transition is a unique probe of high density gas at low temperature. However, our models…

The physical and chemical properties of prestellar cores, especially massive ones, are still far from being well understood due to the lack of a large sample. The low dust temperature ($<$14 K) of Planck cold clumps makes them promising…