X-Ray Emission from Low-Mass Protostars in Two Small Dark Clouds

A handful of Class I protostars have been detected in X rays, but no firmlyestablished Class 0 object has ever been detected as an X ray source. I amproposing to obtain 30 ks pointings with XMM of two small dark cloud regions,each of which is known to harbor highvelocity molecular outflows, long chainsof HH emission knots, and lowluminosity Class 0 IRAS sources. The goal of theobservations is to determine whether the X ray and other physical properties ofthese objects and their surrounding environments are different from those ofembedded protostars that form in much more massive clouds. Because of theirlower density and mass, these small clouds may be more transparent to Xrays andhence more easily probed than a dense cloud like Orion. truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]