Small-scale structure in the Rosette molecular cloud revealed by Herschel

J. Di Francesco (1) , S. Sadavoy (1) , F. Motte (2, 3) , N. Schneider (3) , M. Hennemann (3) , Sylvain Bontemps (4, 5, 6, 7) , T. Csengeri (3) , Z. Balog (8) , Annie Zavagno (9, 10) , Ph. Andre (3) , P. Saraceno (11) , M. Griffin (12) , A. Men'Shchikov (3) , A. Abergel (13) , J. -P. Baluteau (9) , J. -Ph. Bernard (14) , P. Cox , L. Deharveng (9, 10) , P. Didelon (3) , A. -M. Di Giorgio , P. Hargrave , M. Huang (15) , J. Kirk (12) , S. Leeks (16) , J. Z. Li (15) , A. Marston , P. Martin (17) , V. Minier (3, 2) , S. Molinari (11) , G. Olofsson (18) , P. Persi (11) , S. Pezzuto (11) , D. Russeil (9) , M. Sauvage (3) , B. Sibthorpe (19) , L. Spinoglio (20) , L. Testi (21) , D. Teyssier (22) , R. Vavrek , D. Ward-Thompson (12) , G. White (16) , C. Wilson (23) , A. Woodcraft (19)

1 Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics
2 IRFU - Institut de Recherches sur les lois Fondamentales de l'Univers
3 AIM (UMR7158 / UMR_E_9005 / UM_112) - Astrophysique Interprétation Modélisation
4 LAB - Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux [Pessac]
5 OASU - Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers
6 UB - Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1
7 L3AB - Laboratoire d'astrodynamique, d'astrophysique et d'aéronomie de bordeaux
8 MPIA - Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie
9 LAM - Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille
10 OAMP - Observatoire Astronomique de Marseille Provence
11 IFSI - Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario
12 School of Physics and Astronomy [Cardiff]
13 IAS - Institut d'astrophysique spatiale
14 CESR - Centre d'étude spatiale des rayonnements
15 NAOC - National Astronomical Observatories [Beijing]
16 RAL - STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
17 CITA
18 Stockholm University
19 ROE - Royal Observatory Edinburgh
20 ARENA - Antarctic Research a European Network for Astrophysics
21 ESO - European Southern Observatory
22 Herschel Science Center [Madrid]
23 University of Exeter

We present a preliminary analysis of the small-scale structure found in new 70-520 micron continuum maps of the Rosette molecular cloud (RMC), obtained with the SPIRE and PACS instruments of the Herschel Space Observatory. We find 473 clumps within the RMC using a new structure identification algorithm, with sizes up to ~1.0 pc in diameter. A comparison with recent Spitzer maps reveals that 371 clumps are "starless" (without an associated young stellar object), while 102 are "protostellar." Using the respective values of dust temperature, we determine the clumps have masses (M_C) over the range -0.75 <= log (M_C/M_sun) <= 2.50. Linear fits to the high-mass tails of the resulting clump mass spectra (CMS) have slopes that are consistent with those found for high-mass clumps identified in CO emission by other groups.

Domaines: Astrophysique stellaire et solaire [astro-ph.SR]; Astrophysique stellaire et solaire [astro-ph.SR]

J. Di Francesco, S. Sadavoy, F. Motte, N. Schneider, M. Hennemann, et al.. Small-scale structure in the Rosette molecular cloud revealed by Herschel. Astronomy and Astrophysics - A&A, 2010, 518, pp.L91. ⟨10.1051/0004-6361/201014598⟩. ⟨hal-00523472⟩