2008A&A...488..597H

We present a comparative study of several molecular lines and of the dust contiunuum at 1.2mm in a pre-stellar core that is embedded in the Galactic cirrus cloud MCLD123.5+24.9. Previous studies found that the core is gravitationally stable and shows signs of inward motion. Using the Owens Valley (OVRO) and Plateau de Bure (PdB) interferometers we obtained high-angular resolution maps of the core in the carbon monosulfide CS (2-1) and the cyanoacetylene HC₃N (10-9) transitions. Together with CS (5-4), C³⁴S (3-2), and bolometer data obtained with the IRAM 30m telescope, we analyse the excitation conditions and the structural properties of the cloud. On the one hand, the new CS (J=2-1) observations reveal significant substructure on a scale of about 7'', i.e., the beam size, corresponding to about 1050 AU at an adopted distance of 150pc. On the other hand, the interferometric observations in the HC₃N (J=10-9) transition shows just one single well resolved clump in the inner part of the core. This core is well described by an intensity profile following from a centrally peaked volume density distribution. We find no evidence for depletion of CS onto dust grains. The inward motion seen in the CS (2-1) occurs one-sided from the middle of the filamentary cloud towards the HC₃N core.