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J. O'Linger (Spitzer Science Center/IPAC), G. Wolf-Chase (University of Chicago/Adler Planetarium), G. Moriarty-Schieven (Joint Astronomy Centre/National Research Council of Canada)
Although much progress has been made in our understanding of the formation of isolated, low-mass stars during the past couple of decades, little is yet known about the formation of intermediate- and high-mass stars in rich clusters.
Lying at a distance of ~600 pc in Cassiopeia, L1340 is a fairly compact ~0.9x0.8sq.deg dark cloud consisting of three separate clumps (A,B,C) showing various stages of low- and intermediate-mass star formation. Previous large-scale studies of L1340 included surveys for Halpha and NH3 emission, low resolution CO maps, and IRAS PSC data. It was noted that the large number of potential YSOs suggests an extremely high rate of star formation (Kun et al, 1994, A&A, 292, 249). We present our recent SCUBA images of this cloud, which contain a number of previously unknown YSOs.
L1340B (the focus of our SCUBA observations in September 2004) is believed to be the youngest region of star formation and to contain a significant population of intermediate-mass stars. During our JCMT/SCUBA run, we were able to image a 12'x9' region, which revealed a wealth of new sources. Many of the IRAS sources were resolved into multiple objects, and several sources were detected which are only weakly or not detected by IRAS.
We have been allocated additional JCMT time to acquire follow-up molecular data (CO J=3-2) in order to look for outflows. The detection of outflows is an important part of the process of confirming the evolutionary status of the cluster members. One major aim of this study is to more fully characterize the IMF in each of the three regions of L1340. A clearer observational picture of the intermediate mode between isolated, low-mass star formation and clustered high-mass star formation is essential to our overall understanding of star formation processes.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 5
© 2004. The American Astronomical Society.