We present ammonia observations of 193 dense cores and core candidates in the
Perseus molecular cloud made using the Robert F. Byrd Green Bank Telescope. We
simultaneously observed the NH3(1,1), NH3(2,2), CCS (2_1 -> 1_0) and CC34S (2_1
-> 1_0) transitions near 23 GHz for each of the targets with a spectral
resolution of dv ~ 0.024 km/s. We find ammonia emission associated with nearly
all of the (sub)millimeter sources as well as at several positions with no
associated continuum emission. For each detection, we have measured physical
properties by fitting a simple model to every spectral line simultaneously.
Where appropriate, we have refined the model by accounting for low optical
depths, multiple components along the line of sight and imperfect coupling to
the GBT beam. For the cores in Perseus, we find a typical kinetic temperature
of T=11 K, a typical column density of N(NH3)~ 10^14.5 /cm^2 and velocity
dispersions ranging from sigma_v = 0.07 km/s to 0.7 km/s. However, many cores
with velocity dispersions > 0.2 km/s show evidence for multiple velocity
components along the line of sight.Comment: 19 pages; Accepted to ApJS; version with high resolution figures
available at http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/COMPLETE/papers/nh3-paper1.pdf ;
online data at
http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/COMPLETE/data_html_pages/GBT_NH3.htm
