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Y. L. Shirley, N. J. Evans (U. Texas at Austin), J. M. C. Rawlings (Univ. College London), E. M. Gregersen (Caltech)
Recent studies in star formation have been guided by a putative evolutionary sequence based on the spectral energy distribution (SED) of young stellar objects. We are testing this idea by tracing the changes in the distribution of matter across this sequence. We have obtained 850 and 450 micron continuum maps of 21 low mass cores with SED's ranging from Pre-protostellar to Class I (20K < Tbol < 140K) using the SCUBA bolometer array at the JCMT. By combining our maps with continuum emission at other wavelengths and using a radiative transport code, we can compare model predictions of the spatial extent of emission and the SED with observations. This method allows for a self-consistent calculation of the temperature distribution and for smoothing effects caused by a finite beam. We present observations and models of the dust density and temperature distributions as well as SEDs for our sources.