Oral Presentation

Follow-up observations toward Planck cold clumps with ground-based radio telescopes

Tie Liu (KASI)

Stars form in dense regions within molecular clouds, called pre-stellar cores (PSCs), which provide information on the initial conditions in the process of star formation. The low dust temperature (<14 K) of Planck cold clumps/cores makes them likely to be pre-stellar objects or at the very initial stage of protostellar collapse. We have proposed follow-up observations towards these sources with ground-based telescopes (IRAM, PMO 14m, APEX, Mopra, Effelsberg 100 m, CSO and SMA). We will identify and characterize starless cores, prestellar cores and preclusters, and determine the evolutionary sequence for these cores and study their physical and chemical properties. We will also study the fragmentation of these starless Planck cold clumps to see whether the fragmentation in the earliest phase of star formation is determined by turbulence or not. This study will greatly improve our understanding of the initial conditions for star formation and core evolution. I will discuss the progress and the plans (e.g. ALMA) of this internationally collaborating project.