FORCAST imaging of two small nearby Clusters: The Coronet and B59

We present mid infrared imaging of two young clusters, the Coronet in the CrA cloud core and B59 in the Pipe Nebula, using the FORCAST camera on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. We also analyze Herschel Space Observatory PACS and SPIRE images of the associated clouds. The two clusters are at similar, and very close, distances. Star formation is ongoing in the Coronet, which hosts at least one Class 0 source and several pre-stellar cores, which may collapse and form stars. The B59 cluster is older, although it still has a few Class I sources, and is less compact. The CrA cloud has a diameter of about 0.16 pc, and we determine a dust temperature of 15.7 K and a star formation efficiency of about 27 %, while the B59 core is approximately twice as large, has a dust temperature of about 11.4 K and a star formation efficiency of about 14 %. We infer that the gas densities are much higher in the Coronet, which has also formed intermediate mass stars, while B59 has only formed low-mass stars.
15 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal