We consider from a general point of view the problem of determining the extinction in dense molecular clouds. We use a rigorous statistical approach to characterize the properties of the most widely used optical and infrared techniques, namely the star count and the color excess methods. We propose a new maximum-likelihood method that takes advantage of both star counts and star colors to provide an optimal estimate of the extinction. Detailed numerical simulations show that our method performs optimally under a wide range of conditions and, in particular, is significantly superior to the standard techniques for clouds with high column-densities and affected by contamination by foreground stars.

Optimal column density measurements from multiband near-infrared observations / M. Lombardi. - In: ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS. - ISSN 0004-6361. - 438:1(2005), pp. 169-185.

Optimal column density measurements from multiband near-infrared observations

M. Lombardi
Primo
2005

Abstract

We consider from a general point of view the problem of determining the extinction in dense molecular clouds. We use a rigorous statistical approach to characterize the properties of the most widely used optical and infrared techniques, namely the star count and the color excess methods. We propose a new maximum-likelihood method that takes advantage of both star counts and star colors to provide an optimal estimate of the extinction. Detailed numerical simulations show that our method performs optimally under a wide range of conditions and, in particular, is significantly superior to the standard techniques for clouds with high column-densities and affected by contamination by foreground stars.
dust, extinction ; methods : statistical ; ISM : clouds ; infrared : ISM ; stars : formation
Settore FIS/05 - Astronomia e Astrofisica
2005
Article (author)
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/27137
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