Probing the formation mechanism of prestellar cores and the origin of the imf: first results from the herschel gould belt survey

Laboratoire AIM, CEA Saclay, IRFU/Service d’Astrophysique, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France ;
e-mail: pandre@cea.fr

Abstract

We summarize the first results from the Herschel Gould Belt survey, one of the largest key projects with the Herschel Space Observatory. Our early findings confirm the existence of a close relationship between the prestellar core mass function (CMF) the stellar initial mass function (IMF). Furthermore, they suggest a scenario according to which the formation of prestellar cores occurs in two main steps: 1) complex networks of long, thin filaments form first, probably as a result of interstellar MHD turbulence; 2) the densest filaments then fragment and develop prestellar cores via gravitational instability.