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We used near-infrared 2MASS data to construct visual extinction maps of a sample of Southern Bok globules utilizing the NICE method. We derived radial extinction profiles of dense cores identified in the globules and analyzed their stability against gravitational collapse with isothermal Bonnor-Ebert spheres. The frequency distribution of the stability parameter (ξ max ) of these cores shows that a large number of them are located in stable states, followed by an abrupt decrease of cores in unstable states. This decrease is steeper for globules with associated IRAS point sources than for starless globules. Moreover, globules in stable states have a Bonnor-Ebert temperature of T = 15 ± 6 K, while the group of critical plus unstable globules has a different temperature of T = 10 ± 3 K. Distances were estimated to all the globules studied in this work and the spectral class of the IRAS sources was calculated. No variations were found in the stability parameters of the cores and the spectral class of their associated IRAS sources. On the basis of 13 CO J = 1-0 molecular line observations, we identified and modeled a blue-assymetric line profile toward a globule of the sample, obtaining an upper limit infall speed of 0.25 km s −1 .

Using near-infrared data from the Two Micron All Sky Survey catalog and the Near Infrared Color Excess method, we studied the extinction distribution in five dense cores of Musca, which show visual extinction greater than 10 mag and are potential sites of star formation. We analyzed the stability in four of them, fitting their radial extinction profiles with Bonnor–Ebert isothermal spheres, and explored their properties using the J = 1–0 transition of 13CO and C18O and the J = K = 1 transition of NH3. One core is not well described by the model. The stability parameter of the fitted cores ranges from 4.5 to 5.7 and suggests that all cores are stable, including Mu13, which harbors one young stellar object (YSO), the IRAS 12322-7023 source. However, the analysis of the physical parameters shows that Mu13 tends to have larger A V, n c, and P ext than the remaining starless cores. The other physical parameters do not show any trend. It is possible that those are the main parameters to explore in active star-forming cores. Mu13 also shows the most intense emission of NH3. Its 13CO and C18O lines have double peaks, whose integrated intensity maps suggest that they are due to the superposition of clouds with different radial velocities seen in the line of sight. It is not possible to state whether these clouds are colliding and inducing star formation or are related to a physical process associated with the formation of the YSO.

We present a model that unifies the cosmic star formation rate (CSFR), obtained through the hierarchical structure formation scenario, with the (Galactic) local star formation rate (SFR). It is possible to use the SFR to generate a CSFR mapping through the density probability distribution functions (PDFs) commonly used to study the role of turbulence in the star-forming regions of the Galaxy. We obtain a consistent mapping from redshift z ∼ 20 up to the present (z = 0). Our results show that the turbulence exhibits a dual character, providing high values for the star formation efficiency ( ε ∼ 0.32) in the redshift interval z ∼ 3.5 − 20 and reducing its value to ε = 0.021 at z = 0. The value of the Mach number (M crit ), from which ε rapidly decreases, is dependent on both the polytropic index (Γ) and the minimum density contrast of the gas. We also derive Larson's first law associated with the velocity dispersion ( V rms ) in the local star formation regions. Our model shows good agreement with Larson's law in the ∼ 10 − 50 pc range, providing typical temperatures T 0 ∼ 10 − 80 K for the gas associated with star formation. As a consequence, dark matter halos of great mass could contain a number of halos of much smaller mass, and be able to form structures similar to globular clusters. Thus, Larson's law emerges as a result of the very formation of large-scale structures, which in turn would allow the formation of galactic systems, including our Galaxy.