The initial conditions of star formation in the Ophiuchus main cloud: Kinematics of the protocluster condensations

Understand

The earliest phases of clustered star formation and the origin of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) are currently much debated.

• In order to constrain the origin of the IMF, we investigated the internal and relative motions of starless condensations and protostars previously detected by us in the dust continuum at 1.2mm in the L1688 protocluster of the Ophiuchus molecular cloud complex.
• The starless condensations have a mass spectrum resembling the IMF and are therefore likely representative of the initial stages of star formation in the protocluster.
• We carried out detailed molecular line observations, including some N2H+(1-0) mapping, of the Ophiuchus protocluster condensations using the IRAM 30m telescope.