EPoS Contribution

Mapping dust properties across IRDCs with Herschel Nicolas Peretto Service d'Astrophysique CEA Saclay, Saclay, France
The far-infrared space observatory Herschel has recently started observing the sky at wavelengths which were, despite their importance for the study of cold dust, rarely/never observable from the ground. The open time key project HiGal aims to observe the inner part of the galactic plane in 5 different bands ranging from 70 to 500 micron, and at sensitivities allowing us to detect low mass molecular clouds throughout the Galaxy. In the context of HiGal, I will present new results on the dust properties of Infrared Dark Clouds, structures which are believed to be the progenitors of stellar clusters. In a statistical approach, I will relate the physical properties of IRDCs to their ability to form stars.
Collaborators: HiGal consortium	Key publication Suggested Session: Herschel