Initial Highlights from the Herschel Gould Belt Survey
Abstract
The Herschel Space Observatory provides a unique opportunity to improve our global un-derstanding of the earliest phases of star formation. I will present an overview of the first results from the Gould Belt survey (cf. http://gouldbelt-herschel.cea.fr/), one of the largest key projects with Herschel. The immediate objective of this SPIRE/PACS imaging survey is to obtain complete samples of nearby prestellar cores and Class 0 protostars with well char-acterized luminosities, temperatures, and density profiles, as well as robust core mass func-tions and protostar luminosity functions, in a variety of star-forming environments. Thanks to its high sensitivity and large spatial dynamic range, this survey can also probe, for the first time, the link between diffuse cirrus-like structures and compact self-gravitating cores. The main scientific goal is to elucidate the physical mechanisms responsible for the formation of prestellar cores out of the diffuse interstellar medium, crucial for understanding the origin of the stellar initial mass function. The first results, obtained toward the Aquila Rift and Polaris Flare regions during the 'Science Demonstration Phase' (SDP), are very promising (cf. http://herschel.esac.esa.int/SDPw kshops/presentations/IR/25A ndreG ouldBeltS DP 2009.pdf ).Basedonth
- Publication:
-
38th COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010cosp...38.2486A