The JCMT Gould Belt Survey: constraints on prestellar core properties in Orion A North

We employ SCUBA-2 (Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array 2) observations of the Orion A North molecular cloud to derive column density and temperature maps. We apply a novel, Hessian-based structural identification algorithm for detection of prestellar cores to these data, allowing for automated generation of the prestellar mass function. The resulting mass function is observed to peak at $1.39^{+0.18}_{{-}0.19} M_{\odot}$, indicating a star-forming efficiency lower limit of ∼14 per cent when compared with the Orion nebula Cluster initial mass function (IMF) peak. Additionally, the prestellar mass function is observed to decay with a high-mass powerlaw exponent $\alpha = 2.53^{+0.16}_{{-}0.14}$, indicating approximate functional similarity with the Salpeter IMF ($\alpha = 2.35$). This result, when combined with the results of previous investigations suggests a regional dependence of the star-forming efficiency.