Searching for signs of triggered star formation toward IC 1848

We have carried out an in-depth study of three bright-rimmed clouds SFO 11, SFO 11NE and SFO 11E associated with the HII region IC 1848, using observations carried out at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) and the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT), plus archival data from IRAS, 2MASS and the NVSS. We show that the overall morphology of the clouds is reasonably consistent with that of radiative-driven implosion (RDI) models developed to predict the evolution of cometary globules. There is evidence for a photoevaporated flow from the surface of each cloud and, based upon the morphology and pressure balance of the clouds, it is possible that D-critical ionisation fronts are propagating into the molecular gas. The primary O star responsible for ionising the surfaces of the clouds is the 06V star HD 17505. Each cloud is associated with either recent or ongoing star formation: we have detected 8 sub-mm cores which possess the hallmarks of protostellar cores and identify YSO candidates from 2MASS data. We infer the past and future evolution of the clouds and demonstrate via a simple pressure-based argument that the UV illumination may have induced the collapse of the dense molecular cores found at the head of SFO 11 and SFO 11 E