The following document lists the file abstract/CDOUGADO_AEBE_CL.abs
from catalogue VI/111.
A plain copy of the file
(without headers/trailers) may be downloaded.
Recent near-infrared imaging surveys have revealed that young
pre-main sequence intermediate mass stars (1< M < 8 Msun), such as
the Herbig Ae/Be stars are often accompanied with a dense population
of partially embedded low-luminosity objects. These young groups,
still embedded within their molecular clouds, have not yet undergone
significant stellar or dynamical evolution and thus provide unique
opportunities to answer some of the fundamental questions concerning
the star formation process: 1) What is the origin of the Initial Mass
Function ?, 2) What are the timescales for the infall and accretion
phases and their corresponding rates ? and 3) how do environmental
conditions affect the star formation process ?
Deep optical and near-infrared imaging surveys have proven useful
in identifying these embedded populations and studying
IMF's and frequencies of accretion disk candidates. Further
investigating infall and accretion properties of these embedded
populations require however observations at longer wavelengths. The
mid-infrared domain is particularly crucial to discriminate between
different types of circumstellar environments: sources still embedded
within residual infalling envelopes (Class I, rising mid-IR Spectral
Energy Distributions), opaque circumstellar disks (Class II, slowly
decreasing SEDs) and optically thin circumstellar material (Class III,
reddened blackbody).
We propose a mid-infrared imaging survey with ISOCAM of these
clusters in order to fully sample the Class I and Class II populations.
This will enable us to: (1) determine the timescales associated with
the infall phase, (2) better determine accretion disk statistics
(distribution of slopes, frequencies), (4) investigate different
environmental conditions and (5) test current disk and infall models.
ISOCAM offers the unique combination of high sensitivity and
good angular resolution necessary to conduct this program.