The Distribution of UV Radiation Field in the Molecular Clouds of Gould Belt

TL;DR

This study maps the UV radiation field in Gould Belt molecular clouds using Herschel data and dust radiative transfer modeling, revealing correlations with star formation rates in star-forming regions.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed spatial distribution of UV radiation in Gould Belt molecular clouds through SED fitting and radiative transfer analysis.

Findings

UV radiation field correlates linearly with star formation rate in most regions.

Spatial distribution of UV radiation varies across different molecular complexes.

Results support the role of UV radiation in star formation processes.

Abstract

The distribution of ultraviolet (UV) radiation field provides critical constraints on the physical environments of molecular clouds. Within 1 kpc of our solar system and fostering protostars of different masses, the giant molecular clouds in the Gould Belt present an excellent opportunity to resolve the UV field structure in star forming regions. We performed spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting of the archival data from the Herschel Gould Belt Survey (HGBS). Dust radiative transfer analysis with the DUSTY code were applied to 23 regions in 14 molecular complexes of the Gould Belt, resulting in the spatial distribution of radiation field in these regions. For 10 of 15 regions with independent measurements of star formation rate, their star formation rate and UV radiation intensity largely conform to a linear correlation found in previous studies.