The star formation and disk evolution history of a sparse region: The Coronet cluster

The Coronet cluster is a young (1-2 Myr) star-forming region with a few intermediate-mass stars and a moderate low-mass population, concentrated in a cloud about 0.7 pc in radius. Despite its compactness, Herschel/PACS observations, together with ground-based spectroscopy and Spitzer data, reveal that the region contains objects in very different stages of evolution, from embedded protostars in the densest parts of the cloud to protoplanetary disks, together with less dense parts of the cloud without evidence of star formation. Among the protoplanetary disks, we find both primordial disks with strong accretion and objects with evident inside-out evolution. This makes the Coronet cluster an interesting region to study the different phases of star formation and the physical processes leading to protoplanetary disk evolution. In addition, its sparse population presents as well an important contrast to populous clusters that can be used to study the influence of environment on the formation, structure, and fate of protoplanetary disks.