Star Formation in the Norma Cloud Markus Nielbock MPIA, Heidelberg, Germany
The Norma Cloud is a filamentary dark cloud at a galactic latitude of 2 deg and located at a distance that is estimated to be 700 pc. Comprising the clouds Sandqvist 187 and 188, it is a site of active low and medium mass star formation. This is most prominently demonstrated by the presence of the FU Ori star V346 Nor. We have taken up a FIR survey of the embedded pre and protostellar content with the Herschel Space Observatory by making use of its imaging capabilities of the PACS and SPIRE instruments at 70, 100, 160, 250, 350, and 500 micron. The study is augmented by 2MASS and WISE archival data. We have also obtained CO molecular line data with the APEX telescope to investigate the chemical and kinematic properties of the young protostar MMS6, located at the eastern tip of the filament. This contribution reports on the current status of the investigation. We have increased the number of known pre and protostellar objects from a handful to several dozens. This should enhance the statistics of objects to a stage that allows for a more precise evaluation of the suggested age gradient across the cloud. By applying a recently developed algorithm to produce column density maps from near and mid-infrared data, we also investigate the physical properties of the filament.
Caption: This is an RGB image of the Norma cloud. It was synthesised using the WISE 3.4, 12 and 22 micron band images of that region. The field-of-view is about 45' x 25'.
Collaborators: H. Linz, MPIA, Germany R. Chini, AIRUB, Germany	Suggested Session: Clouds