Embedded binaries and their dense cores

We combine recently published Very Large Array observations of young stars with core properties obtained from Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array 2 observations at 850{mu}m. Most embedded binary systems are found towards the centres of their parent cores, although several systems have components closer to the core edge.

Wide binaries, defined as those systems with physical separations greater than 500au, show a tendency to be aligned with the long axes of their parent cores, whereas tight binaries show no preferred orientation. We test a number of simple, evolutionary models to account for the observed populations of Class 0 and I sources, both single and binary. In the model that best explains the observations, all stars form initially as wide binaries.