Profiling filaments: comparing near-infrared extinction and submillimetre data in TMC-1

TL;DR

This study compares near-infrared extinction and submillimetre data to profile interstellar filaments, demonstrating that NIR data can reliably complement or substitute submm observations for filament analysis.

Contribution

The paper introduces methods to derive filament profiles from NIR data and compares their effectiveness with submm data, showing NIR as a viable alternative for filament profiling.

Findings

NIR extinction data can produce filament profiles with ~10-20% accuracy in simulations.

Direct fitting to individual stars yields more accurate profiles at higher densities.

NIR data, including 2MASS, can effectively estimate filament parameters, aligning with previous submm results.

Abstract

Interstellar filaments are an important part of star formation. To understand the structure of filaments, cross-section profiles are often fitted with Plummer profiles. This profiling is often done with submm studies, such as Herschel. It would be convenient if filament properties could also be studied using groundbased NIR data. We compare the filament profiles obtained by NIR extinction and submm observations to find out if reliable profiles can be derived using NIR data. We use J-, H-, and K-band data of a filament north of TMC-1 to derive an extinction map from colour excesses of background stars. We compare the Plummer profiles obtained from extinction maps with Herschel dust emission maps. We present 2 methods to estimate profiles from NIR: Plummer profile fits to median Av of stars or directly to the Av of individual stars. We compare the methods by simulations. In simulations extinction maps and the new methods give correct results to within ~10-20 for modest densities. Direct fit to data on individual stars gives more accurate results than extinction map, and can work in higher density. In profile fits to real observations, values of Plummer parameters are generally similar to within a factor of ~2. Although parameter values can vary significantly, estimates of filament mass usually remain accurate to within some tens of per cent. Our results for TMC-1 are in agreement with earlier results. High resolution NIR data give more details, but 2MASS data can be used to estimate profiles. NIR extinction can be used as an alternative to submm observations to profile filaments. Direct fits of stars can also be a valuable tool. Plummer profile parameters are not always well constrained, and caution should be taken when making fits. In the evaluation of Plummer parameters, one can use the independence of dust emission and NIR data and the difference in the shapes of the confidence regions.