Ammonia observations of the nearby molecular cloud MBM 12 |
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| Authors: | José F Gómez Joaquín Trapero Sergio Pascual Nimesh Patel Carmen Morales José M Torrelles |
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| Institution: | Laboratorio de Astrofísica Espacial y Física Fundamental, INTA, Apdo. Correos 50727, E-28080 Madrid, Spain;Universidad SEK, Cardenal Zúñiga s/n, E40003 Segovia, Spain;Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad Complutense, E-28040 Madrid, Spain;HarvardSmithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA;Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC/CSIC), Edifici Nexus, c/ Gran Capità2-4, E-08034 Barcelona, Spain;Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, CSIC, Apdo. Correos 3004, E-18080 Granada, Spain |
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| Abstract: | We present NH3(1,1) and (2,2) observations of MBM 12, the closest known molecular cloud (65-pc distance), aimed at finding evidence for on-going star formation processes. No local temperature (with a T rot upper limit of 12 K) or linewidth enhancement is found, which suggests that the area of the cloud that we have mapped (15-arcmin size) is not currently forming stars. Therefore this nearby 'starless' molecular gas region is an ideal laboratory to study the physical conditions preceding new star formation.
A radio continuum source has been found in Very Large Array archive data, close to but outside the NH3 emission. This source is likely to be a background object. |
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| Keywords: | stars: formation ISM: clouds ISM: individual: MBM 12 ISM: molecules radio lines: ISM |
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