A Low-mass Cold and Quiescent Core Population in a Massive Star Protocluster

Abstract

Pre-stellar cores represent the initial conditions of star formation. Although these initial conditions in nearby low-mass star-forming regions have been investigated in detail, such initial conditions remain vastly unexplored for massive star-forming regions. We report the detection of a cluster of low-mass starless and pre-stellar core candidates in a massive star protocluster-forming cloud, NGC 6334S. With the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations at a ∼0.02 pc spatial resolution, we identified 17 low-mass starless core candidates that do not show any evidence of protostellar activity. These candidates present small velocity dispersions, high fractional abundances of NH2D, high NH3 deuterium fractionations, and are completely dark in the infrared wavelengths from 3.6 up to 70 μm. Turbulence is significantly dissipated and the gas kinematics are dominated by thermal motions toward these candidates. Nine out of the 17 cores are gravitationally bound, and therefore are identified as pre-stellar core candidates. The embedded cores of NGC 6334S show a wide diversity in masses and evolutionary stages.