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N. J. Evans II (University of Texas at Austin), L. E. Allen (Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory), G. A. Blake (California Institute of Technology), P. M. Harvey (University of Texas at Austin), D. W. Koerner (University of Pennsylvania), L. G. Mundy (University of Maryland), P. C. Myers (Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory), D. L. Padgett (SIRTF Science Center), A. I. Sargent (California Institute of Technology), K. Stapelfeldt (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), E. F. van Dishoeck (University of Leiden)
Crucial steps in the formation of stars and planets can be studied only at mid-infrared to far-infrared wavelengths, where SIRTF provides an unprecedented improvement in sensitivity. We will use all three SIRTF instruments (IRAC, MIPS, and IRS) to observe sources that span the evolutionary sequence from molecular cores to protoplanetary disks, encompassing a wide range of cloud masses, stellar masses, and star-forming environments. In addition to targeting 120 known compact cores, we will survey the entire areas of at least four of the nearest large molecular clouds for new candidate protostars and substellar objects as faint as 0.001 solar luminosities. We will also observe about 130 systems likely to be in the early stages of planetary system formation, probing the evolution of the circumstellar dust and gas, the raw materials for planetary cores and atmospheres. Candidate planet-forming disks as small as 0.1 lunar masses will be detectable. Spectroscopy of new objects found in the surveys and of a select group of known objects will add vital complementary information on the changing chemical and physical conditions in the disks. The resulting data products will include catalogs of thousands of previously unknown sources, multiwavelength maps of about 20 square degrees of molecular clouds, photometry of 130 known young stars, spectra of at least 130 sources, ancillary data from ground-based telescopes, and new tools for analysis and modeling. These products will constitute the foundations for many follow-up studies with ground-based telescopes, as well as with SIRTF and other space missions like SIM, NGST, and TPF.