Star formation in the Taurus filament L1495: From Dense Cores to Stars

TL;DR

This study investigates the dense structures and star-forming activity in the L1495 filament of the Taurus Molecular Cloud, revealing its detailed substructure, fragmentation, and core properties related to star formation potential.

Contribution

It provides a high-resolution dust extinction map of the filament, analyzes its fragmentation and core mass function, and discusses the star formation status in different regions.

Findings

High mass-per-length indicates star-forming potential.

39 dense cores identified with masses 0.4-10 Msun.

Core mass function follows a power law with exponent 1.2.

Abstract

We present a study of dense structures in the L1495 filament in the Taurus Molecular Cloud and examine its star-forming properties. In particular we construct a dust extinction map of the filament using deep near-infrared observations, exposing its small-scale structure in unprecedented detail. The filament shows highly fragmented substructures and a high mass-per-length value of M_line=17 Msun/pc, reflecting star-forming potential in all parts of it. However, a part of the filament, namely B211, is remarkably devoid of young stellar objects. We argue that in this region the initial filament collapse and fragmentation is still taking place and star formation is yet to occur. In the star-forming part of the filament, we identify 39 cores with masses from 0.4...10 Msun and preferred separations in agreement with the local Jeans length. Most of these cores exceed the Bonnor-Ebert critical mass, and are therefore likely to collapse and form stars. The Dense Core Mass Function follows a power law with exponent Gamma=1.2, a form commonly observed in star-forming regions.