EPoS Contribution
EPoS Contribution
Quiescent fibers in the NGC1333 proto-cluster

Alvaro Hacar
IfA, Viena, AU
Whether the star formation mechanism within clusters is just a scaled up version of the one observed in isolated environments or a distinct process has generated an intense and recurrent debate in the community in the last decades. In order to investigate the physical properties of the prestellar gas within young clusters, we have studied the intermediate-mass NGC1333 proto-cluster in Perseus using high sensitivity millimeter line single-dish observations. A detailed inspection of the different spectra within these region reveals the presence of multiple dense and independent structures superposed along the line-of-sight detected in N2H+ and NH3. Using our new analysis technique of Friends-In-Velocity, we have identified a complex network of 14 velocity-coherent filaments (fibers) tangled within the NGC 1333 cluster. These fibers are characterized by presenting transonic internal velocity dispersions along their typical ~0.4pc of length and contain most of the cores identified in these region by previous surveys. Our results indicate that, even in dense environments like NGC1333, the YSOs are formed from the gravitational fragmentation of a sonic medium, that is, from the fragmentation of these velocity-coherent and quiescent fibers. Similar networks or bundles of small-scale fibers, with analogous characteristics than those found in NGC1333, have been recently observed within the B213 star-forming filament in Taurus. These findings then suggest a common star formation mechanism within both clustered (e.g. NGC1333) and isolated environments (e.g. B213) where their differences naturally arise from the level of complexity of these networks.
Caption: (Center) N2H+(1-0) integrated intensity map of the NGC1333 protocluster in Perseus. (Subpanels) Representative examples of different N2H+(1-0) spectra (isolated component) along these region. These spectra illustrate the kinematic complexity of the gas found within these cluster with multiples components typically superposed along the line of sight (Hacar et al. in prep.)
Collaborators:
M. Tafalla, OAN, Spain
J. Alves, IfA, Austria
Key publication

Suggested Sessions: Filaments