A Cluster of Class 0 Protostars in Serpens: An [ITAL]IRAS[/ITAL] HIRES Study

We present new 12, 25, 60, and 100 μm high-resolution-processed (HIRES-processed) IRAS images of the nearby Serpens star-forming cloud core at FWHM resolutions of ~30''-1'. We use HIRES-processed point-source models of the IRAS emission to derive new flux values and flux upper limits for all the protostellar candidates in the Serpens core. Our fluxes (and flux upper limits) determine the spectral energy distributions necessary to derive the dust temperature, circumstellar mass, bolometric luminosity, and evolutionary status of each protostellar candidate. Remarkably, we find all five sources studied by Hurt, Barsony, & Wootten, FIRS 1, SMM 4, S68N, SMM 3, and SMM 2, to share the defining characteristics of class 0 protostars, the short-lived (a few times 10 4 yr), earliest observable protostellar stage. We can also set an upper limit of 8 L ☉ on the preoutburst bolometric luminosity of the recently discovered "FU Ori" source in this region.