Evidence that widespread star formation may be underway in G0.253+016,
  "The Brick"
  Image cubes of differential column density as a function of dust temperature
are constructed for Galactic Centre molecular cloud G0.253+0.016 ("The Brick")
using the recently described PPMAP procedure. The input data consist of
continuum images from the Herschel Space Telescope in the wavelength range
70-500 $\mu$m, supplemented by previously published interferometric data at 1.3
mm wavelength. While the bulk of the dust in the molecular cloud is consistent
with being heated externally by the local interstellar radiation field, our
image cube shows the presence, near one edge of the cloud, of a filamentary
structure whose temperature profile suggests internal heating. The structure
appears as a cool ($\sim 14$ K) tadpole-like feature, $\sim 6$ pc in length, in
which is embedded a thin spine of much hotter ($\sim$ 40-50 K) material. We
interpret these findings in terms of a cool filament whose hot central region
is undergoing gravitational collapse and fragmentation to form a line of
protostars. If confirmed, this would represent the first evidence of widespread
star formation having started within this cloud.
