The initial conditions for stellar protocluster formation

Abstract

Context. Galactic plane surveys of pristine molecular clouds are key for establishing a Galactic-scale view of star formation. For this reason, an unbiased sample of infrared dark clouds in the 10° < | l | < 65°, | b | < 1° region of the Galactic plane was built using Spitzer 8 μm extinction. However, intrinsic fluctuations in the mid-infrared background can be misinterpreted as foreground clouds.