The Effect of Noise on the Dust Temperature - Spectral Index Correlation

We investigate how uncertainties in flux measurements affect the results from modified blackbody SED fits. We show that an inverse correlation between the dust temperature T and spectral index (beta) naturally arises from least squares fits due to the uncertainties, even for sources with a single T and beta. Fitting SEDs to noisy fluxes solely in the Rayleigh-Jeans regime produces unreliable T and beta estimates. Thus, for long wavelength observations (lambda >~ 200 micron), or for warm sources (T >~ 60 K), it becomes difficult to distinguish sources with different temperatures. We assess the role of noise in recent observational results that indicate an inverse and continuously varying T - beta relation. Though an inverse and continuous T - beta correlation may be a physical property of dust in the ISM, we find that the observed inverse correlation may be primarily due to noise.Comment: 14 pages, including 5 Figures; Accepted for publication in Ap

The "True" Column Density Distribution in Star-Forming Molecular Clouds

We use the COMPLETE Survey's observations of the Perseus star-forming region to assess and intercompare three methods for measuring column density in molecular clouds: extinction mapping (NIR); thermal emission mapping (FIR); and mapping the intensity of CO isotopologues. The structures shown by all three tracers are morphologically similar, but important differences exist. Dust-based measures give similar, log-normal, distributions for the full Perseus region, once careful calibration corrections are made. We also compare dust- and gas-based column density distributions for physically-meaningful sub-regions of Perseus, and we find significant variations in the distributions for those regions. Even though we have used 12CO data to estimate excitation temperatures, and we have corrected for opacity, the 13CO maps seem unable to give column distributions that consistently resemble those from dust measures. We have edited out the effects of the shell around the B-star HD 278942. In that shell's interior and in the parts where it overlaps the molecular cloud, there appears to be a dearth of 13CO, likely due either to 13CO not yet having had time to form in this young structure, and/or destruction of 13CO in the molecular cloud. We conclude that the use of either dust or gas measures of column density without extreme attention to calibration and artifacts is more perilous than even experts might normally admit. And, the use of 13CO to trace total column density in detail, even after proper calibration, is unavoidably limited in utility due to threshold, depletion, and opacity effects. If one's main aim is to map column density, then dust extinction seems the best probe. Linear fits amongst column density tracers are given, quantifying the inherent uncertainties in using one tracer (when compared with others). [abridged]Comment: Accepted in ApJ. 13 pages, 6 color figures. It includes small changes to improve clarity. For a version with high-resolution figures see http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/COMPLETE/papers/Goodman_ColumnDensity.pd

The Dust Emissivity Spectral Index in the Starless Core TMC-1C

In this paper we present a dust emission map of the starless core TMC-1C taken at 2100 microns. Along with maps at 160, 450, 850 and 1200 microns, we study the dust emissivity spectral index from the (sub)millimeter spectral energy distribution, and find that it is close to the typically assumed value of beta = 2. We also map the dust temperature and column density in TMC-1C, and find that at the position of the dust peak (A_V ~ 50), the line-of-sight-averaged temperature is ~7 K. Employing simple Monte Carlo modeling, we show that the data are consistent with a constant value for the emissivity spectral index over the whole map of TMC-1C.Comment: 11 pages, including 5 pages of figures. Accepted to Ap

Correlating Infall with Deuterium Fractionation in Dense Cores

We present a survey of HCO+ (3-2) observations pointed towards dense cores with previous measurements of N(N2D+)/N(N2H+). Of the 26 cores in this survey, five show the spectroscopic signature of outward motion, nine exhibit neither inward nor outward motion, eleven appear to be infalling, and one is not detected. We compare the degree of deuterium fractionation with infall velocities calculated from the HCO+ spectra and find that those cores with [D]/[H] > 0.1 are more likely to have the signature of inward motions than cores with smaller [D]/[H] ratios. Infall motions are also much more common in cores with masses exceeding their thermal Jeans masses. The fastest infall velocity measured belongs to one of the two protostellar cores in our survey, L1521F, and the observed motions are typically on the order of the sound speed.Comment: Accepted to Ap

An Observed Lack of Substructure in Starless Cores

In this paper we present the results of a high resolution (5") CARMA and SZA survey of the 3mm continuum emission from 11 of the brightest (at 1.1mm) starless cores in the Perseus molecular cloud. We detect 2 of the 11 cores, both of which are composed of single structures, and the median 3 sigma upper limit for the non-detections is 0.2 M_sun in a 5" beam. These results are consisent with, and as stringent as, the low detection rate of compact 3mm continuum emission in dense cores in Perseus reported by Olmi et al. (2005). From the non-detection of multiple components in any of the eleven cores we conclude that starless core mass functions derived from bolometer maps at resolutions from 10"-30" (e.g. with MAMBO, SCUBA or Bolocam) are unlikely to be significantly biased by the blending of lower mass cores with small separations. These observations provide additional evidence that the majority of starless cores in Perseus have inner density profiles shallower than r^-2.Comment: 9 pages, including 3 figures and 3 tables. Accepted to Ap

The Effect of Line-of-Sight Temperature Variation and Noise on Dust Continuum Observations

We investigate the effect of line-of-sight temperature variations and noise on two commonly used methods to determine dust properties from dust-continuum observations of dense cores. One method employs a direct fit to a modified blackbody spectral energy distribution (SED); the other involves a comparison of flux ratios to an analytical prediction. Fitting fluxes near the SED peak produces inaccurate temperature and dust spectral index estimates due to the line-of-sight temperature (and density) variations. Longer wavelength fluxes in the Rayleigh-Jeans part of the spectrum (≳ 600 μm for typical cores) may more accurately recover the spectral index, but both methods are very sensitive to noise. The temperature estimate approaches the density-weighted temperature, or "column temperature," of the source as short wavelength fluxes are excluded. An inverse temperature-spectral index correlation naturally results from SED fitting, due to the inaccurate isothermal assumption, as well as noise uncertainties. We show that above some "threshold" temperature, the temperatures estimated through the flux ratio method can be highly inaccurate. In general, observations with widely separated wavelengths, and including shorter wavelengths, result in higher threshold temperatures; such observations thus allow for more accurate temperature estimates of sources with temperatures less than the threshold temperature. When only three fluxes are available, a constrained fit, where the spectral index is fixed, produces less scatter in the temperature estimate when compared to the estimate from the flux ratio method

Infall/Expansion Velocities in the Low-Mass Dense Cores L492, L694-2, and L1521F: Dependence on Position and Molecular Tracer

Although surveys of infall motions in dense cores have been carried out for years, few surveys have focused on mapping infall across cores using multiple spectral line observations. To fill this gap, we present IRAM 30-m Telescope maps of N2H+(1-0), DCO+(2-1), DCO+(3-2), and HCO+(3-2) emission towards two prestellar cores (L492 and L694-2) and one protostellar core (L1521F). We find that the measured infall velocity varies with position across each core and choice of molecular line, likely as a result of radial variations in core chemistry and dynamics. Line-of-sight infall speeds estimated from DCO+(2-1) line profiles can decrease by 40-50 m/s when observing at a radial offset >= 0.04 pc from the core's dust continuum emission peak. Median infall speeds calculated from all observed positions across a core can also vary by as much as 65 m/s depending on the transition. These results show that while single-pointing, single-transition surveys of core infall velocities may be good indicators of whether a core is either contracting or expanding, the magnitude of the velocities they measure are significantly impacted by the choice of molecular line, proximity to the core center, and core evolutionary state.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap