%0 Journal Article
%A Gómez, José F.
%A Trapero, Joaquín
%A Pascual Ramírez, Sergio
%A Patel, Nimesh
%A Morales, Carmen
%A Torrelles, José M.
%T Ammonia observations of the nearby molecular cloud MBM 12
%D 2000
%@ 0035-8711
%U https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/60003
%X We present NH_3(1,1) and (2,2) observations of MBM 12, the closest known molecular cloud (65-pc distance), aimed at finding evidence for on-going star formation processes, No local temperature (with a T_rot upper limit of 12 K) or linewidth enhancement is found, which suggests that the area of the cloud that we have mapped (∼ 15-arcmin size) is not currently forming stars. Therefore this nearby 'starless' molecular gas region is an ideal laboratory to study the physical conditions preceding new star formation. A radio continuum source has been found in Very Large Array archive data, close to but outside the NH_3 emission. This source is likely to be a background object.
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