Ammonia observations of the nearby molecular cloud MBM 12

We present NH3(1,1) and (2,2) observations of MBM 12, the closest known molecular cloud (65-pc distance), aimed at finding evidence for on-going star formation processes, No local temperature (with a T-rot upper limit of 12 K) or linewidth enhancement is found, which suggests that the area of the cloud that we have mapped (similar to 15-arcmin size) is not currently forming stars. Therefore this nearby 'starless' molecular gas region is an ideal laboratory to study the physical conditions preceding new star formation. A radio continuum source has been found in Very Large Array archive data, close to but outside the NH3 emission. This source is likely to be a background object.