Density distributions in dark clouds

The stability of a dark cloud against collapse, its angular momentum content, and the temperature structure are affected by the distribution of mass within the cloud. The present paper provides a summary of a study of the envelope density distributions of seven dark clouds, six of which are nearby globules. Most of the data were collected between January 1982 and April 1983. The method of determining the power-law index is discussed, taking into account an assumption of power-law density distributions, space density laws from column densities, and the properties of the cloud cores. The local molecular density distributions of the seven dark cloud envelopes are derived by applying simple analytical techniques to (C-13)O LTE column densities. 44 references