  We have retrieved Spitzer archive data of pre-stellar cores taken with the
Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS) at a wavelength of 160 um.
Seventeen images, containing eighteen cores, were constructed. Flux densities
were measured for each core, and background estimates were made. Mean
off-source backgrounds were found to be 48\pm10 MJy/sr in Taurus and 140\pm55
MJy/sr in Ophiuchus. Consistency was found between the MIPS 170um and ISOPHOT
160um calibration. Fourteen cores were detected both by MIPS and our previous
submillimetre surveys. Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs) were made for each
core, using additional 24- and 70-um data from the Spitzer data archive, as
well as previous infra-red and submillimetre data. Previous temperature
estimates were refined, and new temperature estimates were made where no
Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) data exist. A temperature range of 8-18K was
found for the cores, with most lying in the range 10-13K. We discount recent
claims that a large number of pre-stellar cores may have been misclassified and
in fact contain low luminosity protostars detectable only by Spitzer. We find
no new protostars in our sample other than that previously reported in L1521F.
It is shown that this has a negligible effect on pre-stellar lifetime
estimates.
