The Spitzer c2d Survey of Large, Nearby, Interstellar Clouds. XII. The Perseus YSO Population as Observed with IRAC and MIPS

TL;DR

This study uses Spitzer IRAC and MIPS data to catalog and analyze the distribution and properties of 369 young stellar objects in the Perseus molecular cloud, revealing star formation patterns and cluster associations.

Contribution

It provides an updated YSO catalog with classifications and fluxes, and offers a detailed spatial analysis of star formation regions within Perseus.

Findings

67% of YSOs are in NGC 1333 and IC 348 clusters

Majority of star formation occurs at cloud ends, middle is sparse

Embedded YSOs are concentrated in high-extinction areas

Abstract

The Spitzer Space Telescope mapped the Perseus molecular cloud complex with IRAC and MIPS as part of the c2d Spitzer Legacy project. This paper combines the observations from both instruments giving an overview of low-mass star formation across Perseus from 3.6 to 70 micron. We provide an updated list of young stellar objects with new classifications and source fluxes from previous works, identifying 369 YSOs in Perseus with the Spitzer dataset. By synthesizing the IRAC and MIPS maps of Perseus and building on the work of previous papers in this series (Jorgensen et al. 2006, Rebull et al. 2007), we present a current census of star formation across the cloud and within smaller regions. 67% of the YSOs are associated with the young clusters NGC 1333 and IC 348. The majority of the star formation activity in Perseus occurs in the regions around the clusters, to the eastern and western ends of the cloud complex. The middle of the cloud is nearly empty of YSOs despite containing regions of high visual extinction. The western half of Perseus contains three-quarters of the total number of embedded YSOs (Class 0+I and Flat SED sources) in the cloud and nearly as many embedded YSOs as Class II and III sources. Class II and III greatly outnumber Class 0+I objects in eastern Perseus and IC 348. These results are consistent with previous age estimates for the clusters. Across the cloud, 56% of YSOs and 91% of the Class 0+I and Flat sources are in areas where Av > 5 mag, indicating a possible extinction threshold for star formation.