Initial conditions of star formation at $\lesssim$2000 au: physical structure and NH$_{3}$ depletion of three early-stage cores

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution observations to analyze the thermal structure, density distribution, and ammonia depletion in three early-stage starless cores, revealing how NH$_{3}$ abundance decreases with increasing density during core evolution.

Contribution

It provides detailed temperature and density profiles of three early-stage cores and demonstrates the progressive depletion of NH$_{3}$ with increasing core density, using combined VLA, GBT, and infrared data.

Findings

L429 has the highest central density and advanced evolutionary indicators.

NH$_{3}$ abundance drops by a factor of two in L429's center at ~4.4×10^4 cm^-3.

NH$_{3}$ depletion correlates with increasing core density across studied cores.

Abstract

Pre-stellar cores represent a critical evolutionary phase in low-mass star formation. We aim to unveil the detailed thermal structure and density distribution of three early-stage cores, starless core L1517B, and prestellar core L694-2 and L429, with the high angular resolution observations of the NH$_{3}$ (1,1) and (2,2) inversion transitions obtained with VLA and GBT. In addition, we explore where/if NH$_{3}$ depletes in the central regions. Applying the mid-infrared extinction method to the $\textit{Spitzer}$ 8$~\mu$m map we obtain a high angular resolution hydrogen column density map, and derive the gas density profile to assess the variation of NH$_{3}$ abundance as a function of gas volume density. The measured temperature profiles of L429 and L1517B show a minor decrease towards the core center, dropping from $\sim$9\~K to below 8\~K, and $\sim$11 K to 10 K, while L694-2 has a rather uniform temperature distribution around $\sim$9 K. Among the three cores, L429 has the highest central gas density, close to sonic velocity line-width, and largest localised velocity gradient, all indicative of an advanced evolutionary stage. We resolve that the abundance of NH$_{3}$ becomes two times lower in the central region of L429, occurring around a gas density of 4.4$\times$10$^{4}$$~cm^{-3}$. Compared to Ophiuchus/H-MM1 which shows an even stronger drop of the NH$_{3}$ abundance at 2$\times$10$^{5}$$~cm^{-3}$, the abundance variations of the three cores plus Ophiuchus/H-MM1 suggest a progressive NH$_{3}$ depletion with increasing central density of the core.