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Description
The giant molecular cloud G216-2.5, also known as Maddalena's cloud or the Maddalena-Thaddeus cloud, is distinguished by an unusual combination of high gas mass (1-6x10^5^_M{sun}), low kinetic temperatures (10K), and the lack of bright far-IR emission. Although star formation has been detected in neighboring satellite clouds, little evidence for star formation has been found in the main body of this cloud. Using a combination of mid-IR observations with the IRAC and Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer instruments onboard the Spitzer Space Telescope, and near-IR images taken with the Flamingos camera on the KPNO 2.1m telescope, we identify a population of 41 young stars with disks and 33 protostars in the center of the cloud. Most of the young stellar objects are coincident with a filamentary structure of dense gas detected in CS (2->1). These observations show that the main body of G216 is actively forming stars, although at a low stellar density comparable to that found in the Taurus cloud.
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