Star Formation in Clusters: A Survey of Compact Millimeter-Wave Sources in the Serpens Core

Abstract

We report the results of a millimeter interferometric survey of compact 3 mm continuum sources in the inner 5.5'x5.5' region of the Serpens core. We detect 32 discrete sources above 4.0 mJy/beam, 21 of which are new detections at millimeter wavelengths. By comparing our data with published infrared surveys, we estimate that 26 sources are probably protostellar condensations and derive their mass assuming optically thin thermal emission from dust grains. The mass spectrum of the clumps, dN/dM~M^(-2.1), is consistent with the stellar initial mass function, supporting the idea that the stellar masses in young clusters are determined by the fragmentation of turbulent cloud cores.