Star Formation as Seen by the Infrared Array Camera on Spitzer

Abstract

The Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) onboard Spitzer has imaged regions of star formation (SF) in its four IR bands with spatial resolutions of approximately 2"/pixel. IRAC is sensitive enough to detect very faint, embedded young stars at levels of tens of Jy, and IRAC photometry can categorize their stages of development: from young protostars with infalling envelopes (Class 0/1) to stars whose infrared excesses derive from accreting circumstellar disks (Class 11) to evolved stars dominated by photospheric emission. The IRAC images also clearly reveal and help diagnose associated regions of shocked and/or PDR emission in the clouds; we find existing models provide a good start at explaining the continuum of the SF regions IRAC observes.