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[34.06] The COMPLETE Survey of Nearby Star-Forming Molecular Clouds

J. Di Francesco (NRC-HIA), A. A. Goodman (Harvard), J. Alves (ESO), H. Arce (Caltech), P. Caselli (Arcetri), M. H. Heyer (UMass), D. Johnstone (NRC-HIA), S. Schnee (Harvard), M. Tafalla (OAN), T. L. Wilson (MPIfR)

We report on the preliminary data and ongoing progress of the COMPLETE^* Survey of Nearby Star-Forming Molecular Clouds, an international effort to provide the astronomical community with uniform, wide-field observations of molecular line emission, dust continuum emission, and dust extinction across the Ophiuchus, Perseus, and Serpens molecular clouds. Such observations of ~10 square degrees are now only feasible with the recent simultaneous availability of multi-element mapping instruments at various facilities. Extensive data of ¹²CO and ¹³CO J = 1-0 rotational transition emission across the 3 clouds will be obtained this winter using the 32-element SEQUOIA array of the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory (FCRAO). Complementary 850 micron thermal continuum emission from dust within these same regions may be obtained this winter using the 37-element Long-Wave SCUBA array of the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). Dust extinction maps of these regions are being compiled initially using Two-Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) data. The resulting COMPLETE database, accessible freely to the public through a pilot program of the National Virtual Observatory, will allow for comprehensive studies of the relationships between star formation and the physical conditions within molecular clouds, especially in conjunction with sensitive near- to mid-infrared data of these regions expected from the SIRTF Legacy program ``Cores to Disks" (c2d).

(* COMPLETE = CO-ordinated Molecular Probe Line, Thermal Emission, and Extinction)

If you would like more information about this abstract, please follow the link to http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~agoodman/research8.html. This link was provided by the author. When you follow it, you will leave the Web site for this meeting; to return, you should use the Back comand on your browser.

The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: james.difrancesco@nrc.ca

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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34, #4
© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.