High Resolution Near-Infrared Survey of the Pipe Nebula. I. A Deep Infrared Extinction Map of Barnard 59

Author(s)
Carlos G. Román-Zúñiga, Charles J. Lada, João F. Alves
Abstract

We present our analysis of a fully sampled, high resolution dust extinction map of the Barnard 59 complex in the Pipe Nebula. The map was constructed with the infrared color excess technique applied to a photometric catalog that combines data from both ground and space based observations. The map resolves for the first time the high density center of the main core in the complex, which is associated with the formation of a small cluster of stars. We found that the central core in Barnard 59 shows an unexpected lack of significant substructure consisting of only two significant fragments. Overall, the material appears to be consistent with being a single, large core with a density profile that can be well fit by a King model. A series of NH3pointed observations toward the high column density center of the core appear to show that the core is still thermally dominated, with subsonic non-thermal motions. The stars in the cluster could be providing feedback to support the core against collapse, but the relatively narrow radio lines suggest that an additional source of support, for example, a magnetic field, may be required to stabilize the core. Outside the central core our observations reveal the structure of peripheral cores and resolve an extended filament into a handful of significant substructures whose spacing and masses appear to be consistent with Jeans fragmentation.

Organisation(s)
Department of Astrophysics
External organisation(s)
Centro Astronómico Hispano Alemán (CAHA), Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC)
Journal
The Astrophysical Journal: an international review of astronomy and astronomical physics
Volume
704
Pages
183-195
ISSN
0004-637X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/704/1/183
Publication date
10-2009
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
103004 Astrophysics
Keywords
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/5f9cbec6-888e-44fa-ba33-a4e118910b52