Class 0 Protostars in the Perseus Molecular Cloud: A Correlation Between the Youngest Protostars and the Dense Gas Distribution

TL;DR

This study uses Herschel and other data to identify Class 0 protostars in Perseus, revealing a strong correlation between the youngest protostars and dense gas distribution, suggesting feedback influences clump structure.

Contribution

It introduces a new correlation between Class 0 protostar distribution and dense gas structure, highlighting the impact of protostellar feedback on clump density profiles.

Findings

Identified 28 Class 0 protostars, including 4 new sources.

Found a strong correlation between star formation efficiency and dense gas flatness.

Proposed feedback from protostars alters local density structures.

Abstract

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 embedded Class 0 protostars using detections of compact Herschel sources at 70 um as well as archival Spitzer catalogues and SCUBA 850 um photometric data. We identify 28 candidate Class 0 protostars, four of which are newly discovered sources not identified with Spitzer. We find that the star formation efficiency of clumps, as traced by Class 0 protostars, correlates strongly with the flatness of their respective column density distributions at high values. This correlation suggests that the fraction of high column density material in a clump reflects only its youngest protostellar population rather than its entire source population. We propose that feedback from either the formation or evolution of protostars changes the local density structure of clumps.