NGC 1333—Protostars, Dust Shells, and Triggered Star Formation

Abstract

We present large (13' × 18') and sensitive continuum maps at 850 and 450 μm of the NGC 1333 star formation region. We identify 33 submillimeter sources, some of which are extended and may contain multiple condensations. Very few of the submillimeter sources have optical or near-IR counterparts. In addition to the previously known bright class 0 sources, this survey suggests that many of the fainter sources are also likely to be very young low-mass protostars. We find several dust ridges and shells formed by outflows in the cloud, and in two cases we identify protostellar sources whose formation is likely to have been triggered by powerful outflow bow shocks. Thus, outflows have influenced the structure and evolution of the cloud over the entire area we have mapped. We derive a shallow dust clump mass spectrum, with dN/dM ∝ M-1.4 down to rather low masses, suggesting a large population of dust clumps in the brown dwarf mass range.