500 research outputs found
SCUBA polarisation observations of the magnetic fields in the prestellar cores L1498 and L1517B
We have mapped linearly polarized dust emission from the prestellar cores
L1498 and L1517B with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) using the
Submillimetre Common User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) and its polarimeter SCUBAPOL
at a wavelength of 850um. We use these measurements to determine the
plane-of-sky magnetic field orientation in the cores. In L1498 we see a
magnetic field across the peak of the core that lies at an offset of 19 degrees
to the short axis of the core. This is similar to the offsets seen in previous
observations of prestellar cores. To the southeast of the peak, in the
filamentary tail of the core, we see that the magnetic field has rotated to lie
almost parallel to the long axis of the filament. We hypothesise that the field
in the core may have decoupled from the field in the filament that connects the
core to the rest of the cloud. We use the Chandrasekhar-Fermi (CF) method to
measure the plane-of-sky field strength in the core of L1498 to be 10 +/- 7 uG.
In L1517B we see a more gradual turn in the field direction from the northern
part of the core to the south. This appears to follow a twist in the filament
in which the core is buried, with the field staying at a roughly constant 25
degree offset to the short axis of the filament, also consistent with previous
observations of prestellar cores. We again use the CF method and calculate the
magnetic field strength in L1517B also to be 30 +/- 10 uG. Both cores appear to
be roughly virialised. Comparison with our previous work on somewhat denser
cores shows that, for the denser cores, thermal and non-thermal (including
magnetic) support are approximately equal, while for the lower density cores
studied here, thermal support dominates.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures; accepted for publication by MNRA
VLA OH and H I Zeeman Observations of the NGC 6334 Complex
We present OH and H I Zeeman observations of the NGC 6334 complex taken with
the Very Large Array. The OH absorption profiles associated with the complex
are relatively narrow (del-v_FWHM ~ 3 km s^1) and single-peaked over most of
the sources. The H I absorption profiles contain several blended velocity
components. One of the compact continuum sources in the complex (source A) has
a bipolar morphology. The OH absorption profiles toward this source display a
gradient in velocity from the northern continuum lobe to the southern continuum
lobe; this velocity gradient likely indicates a bipolar outflow of molecular
gas from the central regions to the northern and southern lobes. Magnetic
fields of the order of 200 microG have been detected toward three discrete
continuum sources in the complex. Virial estimates suggest that the detected
magnetic fields in these sources are of the same order as the critical magnetic
fields required to support the molecular clouds associated with the sources
against gravitational collapse.Comment: 14 pages, 9 postscript figures, accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journal (ApJ), tentatively scheduled for vol. 533, Apr. 20,
2000; also available at
http://www.pa.uky.edu/~sarma/RESEARCH/aps_research.htm
Magnetic Fields in Dark Cloud Cores: Arecibo OH Zeeman Observations
We have carried out an extensive survey of magnetic field strengths toward
dark cloud cores in order to test models of star formation: ambipolar-diffusion
driven or turbulence driven. The survey involved hours of observing
with the Arecibo telescope in order to make sensitive OH Zeeman observations
toward 34 dark cloud cores. Nine new probable detections were achieved at the
2.5-sigma level; the certainty of the detections varies from solid to marginal,
so we discuss each probable detection separately. However, our analysis
includes all the measurements and does not depend on whether each position has
a detection or just a sensitive measurement. Rather, the analysis establishes
mean (or median) values over the set of observed cores for relevant
astrophysical quantities. The results are that the mass-to-flux ratio is
supercritical by , and that the ratio of turbulent to magnetic energies
is also . These results are compatible with both models of star
formation. However, these OH Zeeman observations do establish for the first
time on a statistically sound basis the energetic importance of magnetic fields
in dark cloud cores at densities of order cm, and they lay
the foundation for further observations that could provide a more definitive
test.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figures, 2 table
First Observations of the Magnetic Field Geometry in Pre-stellar Cores
We present the first published maps of magnetic fields in pre-stellar cores,
to test theoretical ideas about the way in which the magnetic field geometry
affects the star formation process. The observations are JCMT-SCUBA maps of 850
micron thermal emission from dust. Linear polarizations at typically ten or
more independent positions in each of three objects, L1544, L183 and L43 were
measured, and the geometries of the magnetic fields in the plane of the sky
were mapped from the polarization directions. The observed polarizations in all
three objects appear smooth and fairly uniform. In L1544 and L183 the mean
magnetic fields are at an angle of around 30 degrees to the minor axes of the
cores. The L43 B-field appears to have been influenced in its southern half,
such that it is parallel to the wall of a cavity produced by a CO outflow from
a nearby T Tauri star, whilst in the northern half the field appears less
disturbed and has an angle of 44 degrees to the core minor axis. We briefly
compare our results with published models of magnetized cloud cores and
conclude that no current model can explain these observations simultaneously
with previous ISOCAM data.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figs, to appear in ApJ Letter
Magnetic Fields in Large Diameter HII Regions Revealed by the Faraday Rotation of Compact Extragalactic Radio Sources
We present a study of the line-of-sight magnetic fields in five
large-diameter Galactic HII regions. Using the Faraday rotation of background
polarized radio sources, as well as dust-corrected H-alpha surface brightness
as a probe of electron density, we estimated the strength and orientation of
the magnetic field along 93 individual sight-lines through the HII regions.
Each of the HII regions displayed a coherent magnetic field. The magnetic field
strength (line-of-sight component) in the regions ranges from 2 to 6
microgauss, which is similar to the typical magnetic field strength in the
diffuse interstellar medium. We investigated the relationship between magnetic
field strength and electron density in the 5 HII regions. The slope of magnetic
field vs. density in the low-density regime (0.8 < n_e < 30 per cubic cm) is
very slightly above zero. We also calculated the ratio of thermal to magnetic
pressure, beta_th, for each data point, which fell in the range 1.01 < beta_th
< 25. Finally, we studied the orientation of the magnetic field in the solar
neighborhood (d < 1.1 kpc) using our data from 5 HII regions along with
existing measurements of the line-of-sight magnetic field strength from
polarized pulsars whose distances have been determined from their annual
parallax. We identify a net direction for the magnetic field in the solar
neighborhood, but find no evidence for a preferred vertical direction of the
magnetic field above or below the Galactic plane.Comment: Accepted to the Astrophysical Journal, June 4th 201
A search for interstellar molecules in the spectra of highly reddened stars
A total of ten stars were observed with cameras of the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) in both high and low dispersion. One star, X Persei (HD 24534, 6.0 BE), was analyzed in detail. Ultraviolet observations of the column densities of CO match those derived from the radio to within a factor of 4, with the difference probably due to the larger beam size of the radio measurement and the assumption of a thermal population in the rotational levels of CO. Upper limits are given to the log column densities for OH, HCl, and CH2 of 14.0, 12.3 and 12.8. The carbon abundance was found to be about solar with a possible depletion of about a factor of 2. With precautions concerning both noise and correct background, the IUE can be used for studies of interstellar molecules
Two Bipolar Outflows and Magnetic Fields in a Multiple Protostar System, L1448 IRS 3
We performed spectral line observations of CO J=2-1, 13CO J=1-0, and C18O
J=1-0 and polarimetric observations in the 1.3 mm continuum and CO J=2-1 toward
a multiple protostar system, L1448 IRS 3, in the Perseus molecular complex at a
distance of ~250 pc, using the BIMA array. In the 1.3 mm continuum, two sources
(IRS 3A and 3B) were clearly detected with estimated envelope masses of 0.21
and 1.15 solar masses, and one source (IRS 3C) was marginally detected with an
upper mass limit of 0.03 solar masses. In CO J=2-1, we revealed two outflows
originating from IRS 3A and 3B. The masses, mean number densities, momentums,
and kinetic energies of outflow lobes were estimated. Based on those estimates
and outflow features, we concluded that the two outflows are interacting and
that the IRS 3A outflow is nearly perpendicular to the line of sight. In
addition, we estimated the velocity, inclination, and opening of the IRS 3B
outflow using Bayesian statistics. When the opening angle is ~20 arcdeg, we
constrain the velocity to ~45 km/s and the inclination angle to ~57 arcdeg.
Linear polarization was detected in both the 1.3 mm continuum and CO J=2-1. The
linear polarization in the continuum shows a magnetic field at the central
source (IRS 3B) perpendicular to the outflow direction, and the linear
polarization in the CO J=2-1 was detected in the outflow regions, parallel or
perpendicular to the outflow direction. Moreover, we comprehensively discuss
whether the binary system of IRS 3A and 3B is gravitationally bound, based on
the velocity differences detected in 13CO J=1-0 and C18O J=1-0 observations and
on the outflow features. The specific angular momentum of the system was
estimated as ~3e20 cm^2/s, comparable to the values obtained from previous
studies on binaries and molecular clouds in Taurus.Comment: ApJ accepted, 20 pages, 2 tables, 10 figure
Far-infrared polarimetry from the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy
Multi-wavelength imaging polarimetry at far-infrared wavelengths has proven
to be an excellent tool for studying the physical properties of dust, molecular
clouds, and magnetic fields in the interstellar medium. Although these
wavelengths are only observable from airborne or space-based platforms, no
first-generation instrument for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared
Astronomy (SOFIA) is presently designed with polarimetric capabilities. We
study several options for upgrading the High-resolution Airborne Wideband
Camera (HAWC) to a sensitive FIR polarimeter. HAWC is a 12 x 32 pixel bolometer
camera designed to cover the 53 - 215 micron spectral range in 4 colors, all at
diffraction-limited resolution (5 - 21 arcsec). Upgrade options include: (1) an
external set of optics which modulates the polarization state of the incoming
radiation before entering the cryostat window; (2) internal polarizing optics;
and (3) a replacement of the current detector array with two state-of-the-art
superconducting bolometer arrays, an upgrade of the HAWC camera as well as
polarimeter. We discuss a range of science studies which will be possible with
these upgrades including magnetic fields in star-forming regions and galaxies
and the wavelength-dependence of polarization.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure
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