Chemical and physical small-scale structure in a pre-stellar core

TL;DR

This study compares molecular line emissions and dust continuum in a pre-stellar core, revealing substructure, density distribution, and inward motion, enhancing understanding of early star formation processes.

Contribution

It provides high-resolution mapping of molecular lines in a pre-stellar core, uncovering substructure and dynamics not previously observed.

Findings

Significant substructure at 1050 AU scale in CS 2-1

Single well-resolved clump in HC3N 10-9 transition

Inward motion observed in CS 2-1 transition

Abstract

We present a comparative study of several molecular lines and of the dust contiunuum at 1.2mm in a pre-stellar core that is embedded in the Galactic cirrus cloud MCLD123.5+24.9. Previous studies found that the core is gravitationally stable and shows signs of inward motion. Using the Owens Valley (OVRO) and Plateau de Bure (PdB) interferometers we obtained high-angular resolution maps of the core in the carbon monosulfide CS 2-1 and the cyanoacetylene HC3N 10-9 transitions. Together with CS 5-4, C34S 3-2, and bolometer data obtained with the IRAM 30m telescope, we analyse the excitation conditions and the structural properties of the cloud. On the one hand, the new CS 2-1 observations reveal significant substructure on a scale of about 7", i.e., the beam size, corresponding to about 1050 AU at an adopted distance of 150pc. On the other hand, the interferometric observations in the HC3N 10-9 transition shows just one single well resolved clump in the inner part of the core. This core is well described by an intensity profile following from a centrally peaked volume density distribution. We find no evidence for depletion of CS onto dust grains. The inward motion seen in the CS 2-1 occurs one-sided from the middle of the filamentary cloud towards the HC3N core.