Confirmation of the VeLLO L1148−IRS: star formation at very low (column) density★

We report the detection of a compact (∼5 arcsec; about 1800 au projected size) CO outflow from L1148−IRS. This confirms that this Spitzer source is physically associated with the nearby (≈325 pc) L1148 dense core. Radiative transfer modelling suggests an internal luminosity of 0.08 to 0.13 L⊙. This validates L1148−IRS as a Very Low Luminosity Object (VeLLO; L≤ 0.1 L⊙). The L1148 dense core has unusually low densities and column densities for a star-forming core. It is difficult to understand how L1148−IRS might have formed under these conditions. Independent of the exact final mass of this VeLLO (which is likely