L183 (L134N) Revisited. II. The dust content

Abstract

We present here a complete dust map of L183 (=L134N) with opacities ranging from A_Vb = 3 to 150 mag. Five peaks are identified as being related to known molecular peaks and among these dust peaks two are liable to form stars. The main peak is a prestellar core with a density profile proportional to r^-1 up to a radius of ∼4500 AU and the northern peak could possibly be on its way to form a prestellar core. If true, this is the first example of the intermediate steps between cloud cores and prestellar cores during the quasi-static contraction. Additionally, the low dust temperature of the core reported in Pagani et al. (\cite{Pagani03b}) is confirmed, and the ISOPHOT data are shown to be inappropriate for finding such cores. In the inner core, T_dust ≈ 7.5 K and could be as low as 6.7 K.

Based on observations made with the CFHT, the Iram-30 m and ISO, an ESA project with instruments funded by ESA Member States (especially the PI countries: France, Germany, The Netherlands and the UK) with the participation of ISAS and NASA.