Dense core structure and fragmentation in the Rho Ophiuchi molecular cloud

Abstract

About a dozen distinct dense cores have been identified in the Rho Ophiuchi molecular cloud. The properties of these cores are summarized and compared to the properties of cores in the Taurus molecular cloud, a less efficient region of star formation, and in DR21(OH), a more massive region of star formation. The data are consistent with a picture in which more massive clouds have a higher surface density of cores, which in turn are more massive. The adjacent cores in L1689N have been studied with very high resolution; one has formed stars and one never has. The structure of these cores shows a tendency for duplicity of structures from the largest scales (1 pc) to the smallest (50 AU).