Dr Nicolas Peretto

Joint Director of International
Reader
Astronomy Group
Cardiff Hub for Astrophysics Research and Technology

: Media commentator

I am an observational astronomer, expert on star formation.

My research aims at better understanding the mechanisms leading to the formation of stars using state-of-the-art telescopes (e.g. ALMA, Herschel)

Date
Type

2025

Rigby, A. J. et al. 2025. PAMS: The Perseus Arm Molecular Survey – I. Survey description and first results. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 538(1), pp. 198–222. (10.1093/mnras/staf278)
Watkins, E. J., Peretto, N., Rigby, A. J., Smith, R. J., Kreckel, K. and Fuller, G. A. 2025. Evolutionary growth of molecular clouds as traced by their infrared bright fraction. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 536(3), pp. 2805–2824. (10.1093/mnras/stae2745)

2018

Rigby, A. J. et al. 2018. A NIKA view of two star-forming infrared dark clouds: Dust emissivity variations and mass concentration. Astronomy and Astrophysics 615, pp. -., article number: A18. (10.1051/0004-6361/201732258)
Williams, G. M., Peretto, N., Avison, A., Duarte-Cabral, A. and Fuller, G. A. 2018. Gravity drives the evolution of infrared dark hubs: JVLA observations of SDC13. Astronomy and Astrophysics 613, article number: A11. (10.1051/0004-6361/201731587)
Kwon, J. et al. 2018. A first look at BISTRO observations of the ρ Oph-A core. Astrophysical Journal 859(1), article number: 4. (10.3847/1538-4357/aabd82)
Traficante, A. et al. 2018. Testing the Larson relations in massive clumps. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 477(2), pp. 2220-2242. (10.1093/mnras/sty798)
Traficante, A. et al. 2018. Massive 70μm quiet clumps – II. non-thermal motions driven by gravity in massive star formation?. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 473(4), pp. 4975-4985. (10.1093/mnras/stx2672)
Liu, T. et al. 2018. The TOP-SCOPE Survey of Planck Galactic cold clumps: survey overview and results of an exemplar source, PGCC G26.53+0.17. Astrophysical Journal Supplement 234(2), article number: 28. (10.3847/1538-4365/aaa3dd)
Bron, E. et al. 2018. Clustering the Orion B giant molecular cloud based on its molecular emission. Astronomy and Astrophysics 610, article number: a12. (10.1051/0004-6361/201731833)
Rigby, A. et al. 2018. A NIKA view of two star-forming infrared dark clouds: dust emissivity variations and mass concentration. Astronomy and Astrophysics 615, article number: A18. (10.1051/0004-6361/201732258)
Koch, P. M. et al. 2018. Magnetic fields from filaments to cores. Presented at: Francesco's Legacy: Star Formation in Space and Time, Florence, Italy, 5-9 June 2017Memorie della SAIt, Vol. 88. Fabrizio Serra editore pp. 557-559.
Soam, A. et al. 2018. Magnetic fields towards Ophiuchus-b derived from scuba-2 polarization measurements. Astrophysical Journal 861, article number: 65. (10.3847/1538-4357/aac4a6)

2017

Rayner, T., Griffin, M. J., Marsh, K. and Peretto, N. 2017. Far-infrared observations of a massive cluster forming in the Monoceros R2 filament hub. Astronomy & Astrophysics 607, article number: A22. (10.1051/0004-6361/201630039)
Elia, D. et al. 2017. The Hi-GAL compact source catalogue. I. The physical properties of the clumps in the inner Galaxy (−71.0 ◦ < ` < 67.0◦). Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 471(1), pp. 100-143. (10.1093/mnras/stx1357)
Bracco, A. et al. 2017. Probing changes of dust properties along a chain of solar-type prestellar and protostellar cores in Taurus with NIKA. Astronomy and Astrophysics 604, article number: A52. (10.1051/0004-6361/201731117)
Eden, D. J. et al. 2017. The JCMT Plane Survey: first complete data release - emission maps and compact source catalogue. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 469(2), pp. 2163-2183. (10.1093/mnras/stx874)
Ward-Thompson, D. et al. 2017. First results from BISTRO: a SCUBA-2 polarimeter survey of the Gould Belt. Astrophysical Journal 842(1), pp. 66-75. (10.3847/1538-4357/aa70a0)
Traficante, A. et al. 2017. Massive 70μm quiet clumps I: evidence of embedded low/intermediate-mass star formation activity. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 470(4), pp. 3882-3923. (10.1093/mnras/stx1375)
Csengeri, T. et al. 2017. ALMA survey of massive cluster progenitors from ATLASGAL Limited fragmentation at the early evolutionary stage of massive clumps. Astronomy and Astrophysics 600, article number: L10.
Gratier, P. et al. 2017. Dissecting the molecular structure of the Orion B cloud: insight from principal component analysis. Astronomy and Astrophysics 599, article number: A100. (10.1051/0004-6361/201629847)
Orkisz, J. H. et al. 2017. Turbulence and star formation efficiency in molecular clouds: solenoidal versus compressive motions in Orion B. Astronomy and Astrophysics 599, article number: A99.

2016

McGuire, C., Fuller, G. A., Peretto, N., Zhang, Q., Traficante, A., Avison, A. and Jimenez-Serra, I. 2016. The structure and early evolution of massive star forming regions Substructure in the infrared dark cloud SDC13. Astronomy and Astrophysics 594, article number: A118. (10.1051/0004-6361/201527062)
Andre, P. et al. 2016. Characterizing filaments in regions of high-mass star formation: High-resolution submilimeter imaging of the massive star-forming complex NGC 6334 with ArTeMiS. Astronomy and Astrophysics 592, article number: A54.
Peretto, N., Lenfestey, C., Fuller, G. A., Traficante, A., Molinari, S., Thompson, M. A. and Ward-Thompson, D. 2016. The initial conditions for stellar protocluster formation: III. The Herschel counterparts of the Spitzer Dark Cloud catalogue. Astronomy and Astrophysics 590, article number: A72. (10.1051/0004-6361/201527064)
Marsh, K. A. et al. 2016. A census of dense cores in the Taurus L1495 cloud from the Herschel★ Gould Belt Survey. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 459(1), pp. 342-356. (10.1093/mnras/stw301)
Lackington, M., Fuller, G. A., Pineda, J. E., Garay, G., Peretto, N. and Traficante, A. 2016. Deuteration in infrared dark clouds. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 455(1), pp. 806-819. (10.1093/mnras/stv2354)
Molinari, S. et al. 2016. Hi-GAL, the Herschel infrared Galactic Plane Survey: photometric maps and compact source catalogues First data release for the inner Milky Way:+68 degrees >= l >=-70 degrees. Astronomy and Astrophysics 591, article number: A149. (10.1051/0004-6361/201526380)

2015

Könyves, V. et al. 2015. A census of dense cores in the Aquila cloud complex: SPIRE/PACS observations from the Herschel Gould Belt survey⋆,⋆⋆,⋆⋆⋆. Astronomy and Astrophysics 584, article number: A91. (10.1051/0004-6361/201525861)
Didelon, P. et al. 2015. From forced collapse to H ii region expansion in Mon R2: Envelope density structure and age determination with Herschel. Astronomy & Astrophysics 584, article number: A4. (10.1051/0004-6361/201526239)
Roy, A. et al. 2015. Possible link between the power spectrum of interstellar filaments and the origin of the prestellar core mass function. Astronomy and Astrophysics 584, article number: A111. (10.1051/0004-6361/201526431)
Moore, T. J. T. et al. 2015. The JCMT Plane Survey: early results from the ℓ = 30° field. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 453(4), pp. 4264-4277. (10.1093/mnras/stv1833)
Schneider, N. et al. 2015. Understanding star formation in molecular clouds II. Signatures of gravitational collapse of IRDCs. Astronomy and Astrophysics 578(A&A), article number: A29. (10.1051/0004-6361/201424375)
Avison, A., Peretto, N., Fuller, G. A., Duarte Cabral, A., Traficante, A. and Pineda, J. E. 2015. Tightening the belt: constraining the mass and evolution in SDC335. Astronomy and Astrophysics 577, article number: A30. (10.1051/0004-6361/201425041)
Jordan, C. H. et al. 2015. MALT-45: a 7 mm survey of the southern Galaxy – I. Techniques and spectral line data. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 448(3), pp. 2344-2361. (10.1093/mnras/stv178)

2014

Louvet, F. et al. 2014. The W43-MM1 mini-starburst ridge, a test for star formation efficiency models. Astronomy and Astrophysics 570, article number: A15. (10.1051/0004-6361/201423603)
Sadavoy, S. I. et al. 2014. Class 0 protostars in the perseus molecular cloud: a correlation between the youngest protostars and the dense gas distribution. Astrophysical Journal Letters 787(2), article number: L18. (10.1088/2041-8205/787/2/L18)
Marsh, K. A. et al. 2014. Properties of starless and prestellar cores in Taurus revealed by Herschel★ SPIRE/PACS imaging. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 439(4), pp. 3683-3693. (10.1093/mnras/stu219)
Arzoumanian, D., Andre, P., Peretto, N. and Koenyves, V. 2014. Properties of interstellar filaments as derived from Herschel observations. In: Stamatellos, D., Goodwin, S. and Ward-Thompson, D. eds. The Labyrinth of Star Formation., Vol. 36. Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings Springer, pp. 259-263., (10.1007/978-3-319-03041-8_49)
Tremblin, P. et al. 2014. Ionization compression impact on dense gas distribution and star formation Probability density functions around H II regions as seen by Herschel. Astronomy and Astrophysics 564, article number: A106. (10.1051/0004-6361/201322700)
Roy, A. et al. 2014. Reconstructing the density and temperature structure of prestellar cores from Herschel data: a case study for B68 and L1689B. Astronomy and Astrophysics 562, article number: A138. (10.1051/0004-6361/201322236)
Peretto, N. et al. 2014. SDC13 infrared dark clouds: Longitudinally collapsing filaments?. Astronomy and Astrophysics 561, article number: A83. (10.1051/0004-6361/201322172)
Duarte-Cabral, A., Bontemps, S., Peretto, N., Fuller, G. A. and Chrysostomou, A. 2014. The impact of outflows: from low to high mass protostars. In: Stamatellos, D., Goodwin, S. and Ward-Thompson, D. eds. The Labyrinth of Star Formation., Vol. 36. Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings Springer, pp. 407-411., (10.1007/978-3-319-03041-8_79)

2013

Tremblin, P. et al. 2013. Pillars and globules at the edges of H II regions: Confronting Herschel observations and numerical simulations. Astronomy and Astrophysics 560, article number: A19. (10.1051/0004-6361/201322233)
Jackson, J. M. et al. 2013. MALT90: The Millimetre Astronomy Legacy Team 90 GHz Survey. Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia 30, article number: e057. (10.1017/pasa.2013.37)
Polychroni, D. et al. 2013. Two mass distributions in the L 1641 molecular clouds: the Herschel connection of dense cores and filaments in Orion A. Astrophysical Journal Letters 777(2), article number: L33. (10.1088/2041-8205/777/2/L33)
Peretto, N. et al. 2013. Global collapse of molecular clouds as a formation mechanism for the most massive stars. Astronomy and Astrophysics 555, article number: A112. (10.1051/0004-6361/201321318)
Kirk, J. M. et al. 2013. First results from the Herschel(star) Gould Belt Survey in Taurus. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 432(2), pp. 1424-1433. (10.1093/mnras/stt561)
Russeil, D. et al. 2013. The Herschel view of the massive star-forming region NGC 6334. Astronomy and Astrophysics 554, article number: A42. (10.1051/0004-6361/201219971)
Arzoumanian, D., Andre, P., Peretto, N. and Könyves, V. 2013. Formation and evolution of interstellar filaments: hints from velocity dispersion measurements. Astronomy and Astrophysics 553, article number: A119. (10.1051/0004-6361/201220822)
Schneider, N. et al. 2013. Cluster-formation in the Rosette molecular cloud at the junctions of filaments (Corrigendum). Astronomy and Astrophysics 551, article number: C1. (10.1051/0004-6361/201118566e)
Palmeirim, P. et al. 2013. Herschel view of the Taurus B211/3 filament and striations: evidence of filamentary growth?. Astronomy and Astrophysics 550, article number: A38. (10.1051/0004-6361/201220500)
Rygl, K. L. J. et al. 2013. Recent star formation in the Lupus clouds as seen by Herschel [Letter]. Astronomy and Astrophysics 549, article number: L1. (10.1051/0004-6361/201219511)
Schneider, N. et al. 2013. What determines the density structure of molecular clouds? A case study of Orion B with Herschel. Astrophysical Journal Letters 766(2), article number: L17. (10.1088/2041-8205/766/2/L17)

2012

Hill, T. et al. 2012. Resolving the Vela C ridge with P-ArTéMiS and Herschel [Letter]. Astronomy and Astrophysics 548, article number: L6. (10.1051/0004-6361/201220504)
Pezzuto, S. et al. 2012. Herschel observations of B1-bS and B1-bN: two first hydrostatic core candidates in the Perseus star-forming cloud. Astronomy and Astrophysics 547, article number: A54. (10.1051/0004-6361/201219501)
Duarte Cabral, A., Chrysostomou, A., Peretto, N., Fuller, G. A., Matthews, B., Schieven, G. and Davis, G. R. 2012. The molecular gas content of the Pipe Nebula - I. Direct evidence of outflow-generated turbulence in B59?. Astronomy and Astrophysics 543, article number: A140. (10.1051/0004-6361/201219240)
Hennemann, M. et al. 2012. The spine of the swan: a Herschel study of the DR21 ridge and filaments in Cygnus X [Letter]. Astronomy and Astrophysics 543, article number: L3. (10.1051/0004-6361/201219429)
Wilcock, L. A. et al. 2012. Isolated starless cores in infrared dark clouds in the Hi-GAL survey. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 424(1), pp. 716-727. (10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.21264.x)
Hill, T. et al. 2012. The M 16 molecular complex under the influence of NGC6611 - Herschel’s perspective of the heating effect on the Eagle Nebula. Astronomy & Astrophysics 542, article number: A114. (10.1051/0004-6361/201219009)
Wilcock, L. A. et al. 2012. Cores in infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) seen in the Hi-GAL survey between l= 300° and 330°. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 422(2), pp. 1071-1082. (10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.20680.x)
Peretto, N. et al. 2012. The Pipe Nebula as seen with Herschel: formation of filamentary structures by large-scale compression?. Astronomy and Astrophysics 541, article number: A63. (10.1051/0004-6361/201118663)
Schneider, N. et al. 2012. Cluster-formation in the Rosette molecular cloud at the junctions of filaments [Letter]. Astronomy and Astrophysics 540, article number: L11. (10.1051/0004-6361/201118566)
Sadavoy, S. I. et al. 2012. Herschel observations of a potential core-forming clump: Perseus B1-E. Astronomy and Astrophysics 540, article number: A10. (10.1051/0004-6361/201117934)
Duarte-Cabral, A., Peretto, N., Fuller, G. A. and Dobbs, C. L. 2012. Unraveling the initial conditions of star formation in Serpens North. Presented at: Joint European and National Astronomical Meeting, Lisbon, Portugal, 9-10 September 2010 Presented at Moitinho, A. and Alves, J. eds.Star Clusters in the Era of Large Surveys: Proceedings of Symposium 5 of JENAM 2010. Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings Berlin: Springer pp. 139-146., (10.1007/978-3-642-22113-2_20)

2011

Foster, J. B. et al. 2011. The Millimeter Astronomy Legacy Team 90 GHz (MALT90) pilot survey. The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 197(2), article number: L33. (10.1088/0067-0049/197/2/25)
Nguyên Luong, Q. et al. 2011. The Herschel view of massive star formation in G035.39-00.33: dense and cold filament of W48 undergoing a mini-starburst. Astronomy and Astrophysics 535, article number: A76. (10.1051/0004-6361/201117831)
Battersby, C. et al. 2011. Characterizing precursors to stellar clusters with Herschel. Astronomy and Astrophysics 535, article number: A128. (10.1051/0004-6361/201116559)
Hill, T. et al. 2011. Filaments and ridges in Vela C revealed by Herschel: from low-mass to high-mass star-forming sites. Astronomy and Astrophysics 533, article number: A94. (10.1051/0004-6361/201117315)
Arzoumanian, D. et al. 2011. Characterizing interstellar filaments with Herschel in IC 5146 {Letter]. Astronomy and Astrophysics 529, article number: L6. (10.1051/0004-6361/201116596)
Duarte Cabral, A., Dobbs, C. L., Peretto, N. and Fuller, G. A. 2011. Was a cloud-cloud collision the trigger of the recent star formation in Serpens?. Astronomy and Astrophysics 528, article number: A50. (10.1051/0004-6361/201015477)
Wilcock, L. A. et al. 2011. The initial conditions of high-mass star formation: radiative transfer models of IRDCs seen in theHerschelHi-GAL survey. Astronomy & Astrophysics 526, article number: A159. (10.1051/0004-6361/201015488)

2010

Peretto, N. and Fuller, G. A. 2010. A statistical study of the mass and density structure of infrared dark clouds. The Astrophysical Journal 723(1), pp. 555-562. (10.1088/0004-637X/723/1/555)
Duarte Cabral, A. et al. 2010. The physical and dynamical structure of Serpens - two very different sub-(proto)clusters. Astronomy and Astrophysics 519, article number: A27. (10.1051/0004-6361/200913919)
André, P. et al. 2010. From filamentary clouds to prestellar cores to the stellar IMF: initial highlights from the Herschel Gould Belt Survey [Letter]. Astronomy and Astrophysics 518, article number: L102. (10.1051/0004-6361/201014666)
Bontemps, S. et al. 2010. The Herschel first look at protostars in the Aquila rift [Letter]. Astronomy and Astrophysics 518, article number: L85. (10.1051/0004-6361/201014661)
Motte, F. et al. 2010. Initial highlights of the HOBYS key program, the Herschel imaging survey of OB young stellar objects {Letter]. Astronomy and Astrophysics 518, article number: L77. (10.1051/0004-6361/201014690)
Molinari, S. et al. 2010. Clouds, filaments, and protostars: the Herschel/Hi-GAL Milky Way [Letter]. Astronomy and Astrophysics 518, article number: L100. (10.1051/0004-6361/201014659)
Peretto, N. et al. 2010. Mapping the column density and dust temperature structure of IRDCs with Herschel [Letter]. Astronomy and Astrophysics 518, article number: L98. (10.1051/0004-6361/201014652)

2009

Peretto, N. and Fuller, G. A. 2009. The initial conditions of stellar protocluster formation. I. A catalogue of Spitzer dark clouds. Astronomy & Astrophysics 505(1), pp. 405-415. (10.1051/0004-6361/200912127)

2008

Andre, P., Hennebelle, P. and Peretto, N. 2008. Early stages of star formation. Astrophysics and Space Science 313(1-3), pp. 29-34. (10.1007/s10509-007-9601-x)

2007

Peretto, N., Fuller, G., Zijlstra, A. and Patel, N. 2007. The massive expanding molecular torus in the planetary nebula NGC 6302. Astronomy and Astrophysics 473(1), pp. 207-217. (10.1051/0004-6361:20066973)
Andre, P., Belloche, A., Motte, F. and Peretto, N. 2007. The initial conditions of star formation in the Ophiuchus main cloud: kinematics of the protocluster condensations. Astronomy and Astrophysics 472(2), pp. 519-535. (10.1051/0004-6361:20077422)
Peretto, N., Hennebelle, P. and Andre, P. 2007. Probing the formation of intermediate- to high-mass stars in protoclusters - II. Comparison between millimeter interferometric observations of NGC 2264-C and SPH simulations of a collapsing clump. Astronomy and Astrophysics 464(3), pp. 983-994. (10.1051/0004-6361:20065653)

2006

Peretto, N., Andre, P. and Belloche, A. 2006. Probing the formation of intermediate- to high-mass stars in protoclusters - A detailed millimeter study of the NGC 2264 clumps. Astronomy and Astrophysics 445(3), pp. 979-998. (10.1051/0004-6361:20053324)
Monin, J. L., Menard, F. and Peretto, N. 2006. Disc orientations in pre-main-sequence multiple systems - A study in southern star formation regions. Astronomy and Astrophysics 446(1), pp. 201-210. (10.1051/0004-6361:20042584)

My research is focusing on the earliest stages of galactic star formation, from low-mass stars to massive stars.

I try in particular to characterise the role of dense gas dynamics on the determination of star-forming-core masses. To do this, I use state-of-the-art observations spanning a range of wavelengths, from infrared to millimetre.

Year 3 module organiser PX3145: "Formation and evolution of stars"
Year 3 module organiser PX3143: "Computational physics"
Postgraduate lectures on star formation
Year 1 tutor
Year 2 tutor
Year 3 project supervisor
Year 4 project supervisor

I arrived at Cardiff University in April 2013 as a Lecturer.

Prior to that, from January 2010 to March 2013, I was a COFUND Marie Curie Fellow at CEA Saclay, France.

From December 2005 to December 2009, I was a PDRA at the University of Manchester, starting immediately after getting my PhD degree from the Universite Marie Curie in Paris.

Gwen Williams, started 1st of october 2014
Liz Watkins, started 1st of october 2016

Contact Details

PerettoN@cardiff.ac.uk
+44 29208 74649
Queen's Buildings - North Building, Room N/2.27, 5 The Parade, Newport Road, Cardiff, CF24 3AA

Dr Nicolas Peretto

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Dr Nicolas Peretto

Overview

Publication

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

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2006

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