The kinetic temperature structure within NGC2024

NGC2024 (Orion B) is a well-studied, nearby (distance ~= 415pc) star forming region. High-resolution ( theta_B < 30 arcsec) measurements of the millimeter-wavelength dust continuum (\cite{mezger92}) and molecular spectral line emission (\cite{schulz91}; \cite{mau92}) have detected a string of seven dense (n(\h) ~ 10^5--10^8 cc) cores embedded within a N-S extended 0.3 times 0.5 pc ridge of molecular material. Suggestions that the seven compact dust continuum sources are isothermal condensations on their way to forming protostars has prompted numerous investigations into their nature. Through these investigations we now know that FIR4 is associated with a 2 microns source (\cite{moore89}) and a reflection nebula (\cite{moore95}), FIR5 drives a highly-collimated unipolar molecular outflow (\cite{richer92}), and FIR6 has an outflow with associated water maser emission (\cite{genzel77}; \cite{richer90}). One physical parameter which has been difficult to measure toward these FIR objects is the kinetic temperature. \cite{mangum90} showed that a number of transitions from the formaldehyde molecule can be used as sensitive kinetic temperature probes within dense molecular clouds. In the following, we present measurements of several transitions of form which we have used to derive the kinetic temperature toward the FIR3, FIR4, FIR5, FIR6, and FIR7 condensations within NGC2024.