Analysis and test of the central-blue-spot infall hallmark

<BR /> Aims: The infall of material onto a protostar, in the case of optically thick line emission, produces an asymmetry in the blue- and red-wing line emissions. For an angularly resolved emission, this translates in a blue central spot in the first-order moment (intensity weighted velocity) map. <BR /> Methods: An analytical expression for the first-order moment intensity as a function of the projected distance was derived, for the cases of infinite and finite infall radius. The effect of a finite angular resolution, which requires the numerical convolution with the beam, was also studied. <BR /> Results: This method was applied to existing data of several star-forming regions, namely G31.41+0.31 HMC, B335, and LDN 1287, obtaining good fits to the first-order moment intensity maps, and deriving values of the central masses onto which the infall is taking place (G31.41+0.31 HMC: 70-120 M<SUB>☉</SUB>; B335: 0.1 M<SUB>☉</SUB>; Guitar Core of LDN 1287: 4.8 M<SUB>☉</SUB>). The central-blue-spot infall hallmark appears to be a robust and reliable indicator of infall.