We demonstrate the use of the 3D Monte Carlo radiative transfer code PHAETHON to model infrared-dark clouds (IRDCs) that are externally illuminated by the interstellar radiation field (ISRF). These clouds are believed to be the earliest observed phas
e of high-mass star formation, and may be the high-mass equivalent of lower-mass prestellar cores. We model three different cases as examples of the use of the code, in which we vary the mass, density, radius, morphology and internal velocity field of the IRDC. We show the predicted output of the models at different wavelengths chosen to match the observing wavebands of Herschel and Spitzer. For the wavebands of the long- wavelength SPIRE photometer on Herschel, we also pass the model output through the SPIRE simulator to generate output images that are as close as possible to the ones that would be seen using SPIRE. We then analyse the images as if they were real observations, and compare the results of this analysis with the results of the radiative transfer models. We find that detailed radiative transfer modelling is necessary to accurately determine the physical parameters of IRDCs (e.g. dust temperature, density profile). This method is applied to study G29.55+00.18, an IRDC observed by the Herschel Infrared Galactic Plane survey (Hi-GAL), and in the future it will be used to model a larger sample of IRDCs from the same survey.
We present observations of L1155 and L1148 in the Cepheus molecular cloud, taken using the FIS instrument on the Akari satellite. We compare these data to submillimetre data taken using the SCUBA camera on the JCMT, and far-infrared data taken with t
he ISOPHOT camera on board the ISO satellite. All of the data show a relation between the position of the peak of emission and the wavelength for the core of L1155. We interpret this as a temperature gradient. We fit modified blackbody curves to the spectral energy distributions at two positions in the core and see that the central core in L1155 (L1155C) is approximately 2 degrees warmer at one edge than it is in the centre. We consider a number of possible heating sources and conclude that the A6V star BD+67 1263 is the most likely candidate. This star is at a distance of 0.7 pc from the front of L1155C in the plane of the sky. We carry out radiative transfer modelling of the L1155C core including the effects from the nearby star. We find that we can generate a good fit to the observed data at all wavelengths, and demonstrate that the different morphologies of the core at different wavelengths can be explained by the observed 2 degree temperature gradient. The L1148 core exhibits a similar morphology to that of L1155C, and the data are also consistent with a temperature gradient across the core. In this case, the most likely heating source is the star BD197053. Our findings illustrate very clearly that the apparent observed morphology of a pre-stellar core can be highly dependent on the wavelength of the observation, and that temperature gradients must be taken into account before converting images into column density distributions. This is important to note when interpreting Akari and Spitzer data and will also be significant for Herschel data.
We present continuum data from the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), and the Mid-Infrared Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS) on the Spitzer Space Telescope, at submillimetre and infrared wavelen
gths respectively. We study the Taurus molecular cloud 1 (TMC1), and in particular the region of the Taurus Molecular Ring (TMR). In the continuum data we see no real evidence for a ring, but rather we see one side of it only, appearing as a filament. We name the filament `the bulls tail. The filament is seen in emission at 850, 450 and 160um, and in absorption at 70um. We compare the data with archive data from the Infra-Red Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) at 12, 25, 60, 100um, in which the filament is also seen in absorption. We find that the emission from the filament consists of two components: a narrow, cold (~8K), central core; and a broader, slightly warmer (~12K), shoulder of emission. We use a radiative transfer code to model the filaments appearance, either in emission or absorption, simultaneously at each of the different wavelengths. Our best fit model uses a Plummer-like density profile and a homogeneous interstellar dust grain population. Unlike previous work on a similar, but different filament in Taurus, we require no grain coagulation to explain our data.
We introduce and test a new and highly efficient method for treating the thermal and radiative effects influencing the energy equation in SPH simulations of star formation. The method uses the density, temperature and gravitational potential of each
particle to estimate a mean optical depth, which then regulates the particles heating and cooling. The method captures -- at minimal computational cost -- the effects of (i) the rotational and vibrational degrees of freedom of H2, H2 dissociation, H0 ionisation, (ii) opacity changes due to ice mantle melting, sublimation of dust, molecular lines, H-, bound-free and free-free processes and electron scattering; (iv) external irradiation; and (v) thermal inertia. The new algorithm reproduces the results of previous authors and/or known analytic solutions. The computational cost is comparable to a standard SPH simulation with a simple barotropic equation of state. The method is easy to implement, can be applied to both particle- and grid-based codes, and handles optical depths 0<tau<10^{11}.
