Southern IRDCs seen with Spitzer/MIPS

Infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) are generally assumed to be a promising hunting ground for tracing very early stages of massive star formation. Observations with Spitzer are a viable tool to probe their interiors that are still dominated by strong dust extinction even at 8 μm. With Spitzer/MIPS, we have observed several IRDCs at 24 and 70 micron. We generally find weak 24 micron sources within the IRDCs. However, at 70 micron these sources remain weak and thus indicate lower luminosities at the current state of evolution. Indications for internal substructures exist, separating regions with compact IR sources from even more dark regions.