19 research outputs found
Focus errors from tracking sodium layer altitude variations with laser guide star adaptive optics for the Thirty Meter Telescope
Laser guide star (LGS) adaptive optics systems for extremely large telescopes must handle an important effect that is negligible for current generation telescopes. Wavefront errors, due to improperly focusing laser wavefront sensors (WFS) on the mesospheric sodium layer, are proportional to the square of the telescope diameter. The sodium layer, whose mean altitude is approximately 90 km, can move vertically at rates of up to a few metres per second; a few seconds lag in refocusing can substantially degrade delivered image quality (15 m of defocus can cause 120 nm residual wavefront error on a 30-m telescope.) As well, the range of temporal frequencies of sodium altitude focus, overlaps the temporal frequencies of focus caused by atmospheric turbulence. Only natural star wavefront sensors can disentangle this degeneracy. However, applying corrections with representative focus mechanisms having modest control bandwidths causes appreciable tracking errors. In principle, electronic offsets measured by natural guide star detectors could be rapidly applied to laser WFS measurements, but to provide useable sky coverage, integrating sufficient photons causes an unavoidable time delay, again resulting in potentially serious focus tracking errors. However, our analysis depends on extrapolating to temporal frequencies greater than 1 Hz from power spectra of sodium profile time series taken at 1-2 minute intervals. In principle, with a pulsed laser, (e.g. 3-ÎŒs pulses) and dynamic refocusing on a polar-coordinate CCD, this focus tracking error may be eliminated. This result is an additional benefit of dynamic refocusing beyond the commonly recognized amelioration of LGS WFS spot elongation
The JCMT BISTRO Survey: Studying the Complex Magnetic Field of L43
We present observations of polarized dust emission at 850 ÎŒm from the L43 molecular cloud, which sits in the Ophiuchus cloud complex. The data were taken using SCUBA-2/POL-2 on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope as a part of the BISTRO large program. L43 is a dense (NH 10
22 2 ~ â1023 cmâ2) complex molecular cloud with a submillimeter-bright starless core and two protostellar sources. There appears to be an evolutionary gradient along the isolated filament that L43 is embedded within, with the most evolved source closest to the Sco OB2 association. One of the protostars drives a CO outflow that has created a cavity to the southeast. We see a magnetic field that appears to be aligned with the cavity walls of the outflow, suggesting interaction with the outflow. We also find a magnetic field strength of up to âŒ160 ± 30 ÎŒG in the main starless core and up to âŒ90 ± 40 ÎŒG in the more diffuse, extended region. These field strengths give magnetically super- and subcritical values, respectively, and both are found to be roughly trans-AlfvĂ©nic. We also present a new method of data reduction for these denser but fainter objects like starless cores
Filamentary Network and Magnetic Field Structures Revealed with BISTRO in the High-Mass Star-Forming Region NGC2264 : Global Properties and Local Magnetogravitational Configurations
We report 850 m continuum polarization observations toward the
filamentary high-mass star-forming region NGC 2264, taken as part of the
B-fields In STar forming Regions Observations (BISTRO) large program on the
James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). These data reveal a well-structured
non-uniform magnetic field in the NGC 2264C and 2264D regions with a prevailing
orientation around 30 deg from north to east. Field strengths estimates and a
virial analysis for the major clumps indicate that NGC 2264C is globally
dominated by gravity while in 2264D magnetic, gravitational, and kinetic
energies are roughly balanced. We present an analysis scheme that utilizes the
locally resolved magnetic field structures, together with the locally measured
gravitational vector field and the extracted filamentary network. From this, we
infer statistical trends showing that this network consists of two main groups
of filaments oriented approximately perpendicular to one another. Additionally,
gravity shows one dominating converging direction that is roughly perpendicular
to one of the filament orientations, which is suggestive of mass accretion
along this direction. Beyond these statistical trends, we identify two types of
filaments. The type-I filament is perpendicular to the magnetic field with
local gravity transitioning from parallel to perpendicular to the magnetic
field from the outside to the filament ridge. The type-II filament is parallel
to the magnetic field and local gravity. We interpret these two types of
filaments as originating from the competition between radial collapsing, driven
by filament self-gravity, and the longitudinal collapsing, driven by the
region's global gravity.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. 43 pages, 32
figures, and 4 tables (including Appendix
The JCMT BISTRO Survey: Revealing the Diverse Magnetic Field Morphologies in Taurus Dense Cores with Sensitive Submillimeter Polarimetry
Abstract: We have obtained sensitive dust continuum polarization observations at 850 ÎŒm in the B213 region of Taurus using POL-2 on SCUBA-2 at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope as part of the B-fields in STar-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey. These observations allow us to probe magnetic field (B-field) at high spatial resolution (âŒ2000 au or âŒ0.01 pc at 140 pc) in two protostellar cores (K04166 and K04169) and one prestellar core (Miz-8b) that lie within the B213 filament. Using the DavisâChandrasekharâFermi method, we estimate the B-field strengths in K04166, K04169, and Miz-8b to be 38 ± 14, 44 ± 16, and 12 ± 5 ÎŒG, respectively. These cores show distinct mean B-field orientations. The B-field in K04166 is well ordered and aligned parallel to the orientations of the core minor axis, outflows, core rotation axis, and large-scale uniform B-field, in accordance with magnetically regulated star formation via ambipolar diffusion taking place in K04166. The B-field in K04169 is found to be ordered but oriented nearly perpendicular to the core minor axis and large-scale B-field and not well correlated with other axes. In contrast, Miz-8b exhibits a disordered B-field that shows no preferred alignment with the core minor axis or large-scale field. We found that only one core, K04166, retains a memory of the large-scale uniform B-field. The other two cores, K04169 and Miz-8b, are decoupled from the large-scale field. Such a complex B-field configuration could be caused by gas inflow onto the filament, even in the presence of a substantial magnetic flux
Filamentary Network and Magnetic Field Structures Revealed with BISTRO in the High-mass Star-forming Region NGC 2264: Global Properties and Local Magnetogravitational Configurations
We report 850 Όm continuum polarization observations toward the filamentary high-mass star-forming region NGC 2264, taken as part of the B-fields In STar forming Regions Observations large program on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. These data reveal a well-structured nonuniform magnetic field in the NGC 2264C and 2264D regions with a prevailing orientation around 30° from north to east. Field strength estimates and a virial analysis of the major clumps indicate that NGC 2264C is globally dominated by gravity, while in 2264D, magnetic, gravitational, and kinetic energies are roughly balanced. We present an analysis scheme that utilizes the locally resolved magnetic field structures, together with the locally measured gravitational vector field and the extracted filamentary network. From this, we infer statistical trends showing that this network consists of two main groups of filaments oriented approximately perpendicular to one another. Additionally, gravity shows one dominating converging direction that is roughly perpendicular to one of the filament orientations, which is suggestive of mass accretion along this direction. Beyond these statistical trends, we identify two types of filaments. The type I filament is perpendicular to the magnetic field with local gravity transitioning from parallel to perpendicular to the magnetic field from the outside to the filament ridge. The type II filament is parallel to the magnetic field and local gravity. We interpret these two types of filaments as originating from the competition between radial collapsing, driven by filament self-gravity, and longitudinal collapsing, driven by the region's global gravity
The JCMT BISTRO Survey: An 850/450 Ό m Polarization Study of NGC 2071IR in Orion B
Abstract: We present the results of simultaneous 450 ÎŒm and 850 ÎŒm polarization observations toward the massive star-forming region NGC 2071IR, a target of the BISTRO (B-fields in STar-forming Region Observations) Survey, using the POL-2 polarimeter and SCUBA-2 camera mounted on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. We find a pinched magnetic field morphology in the central dense core region, which could be due to a rotating toroidal disklike structure and a bipolar outflow originating from the central young stellar object IRS 3. Using the modified DavisâChandrasekharâFermi method, we obtain a plane-of-sky magnetic field strength of 563 ± 421 ÎŒG in the central âŒ0.12 pc region from 850 ÎŒm polarization data. The corresponding magnetic energy density of 2.04 Ă 10â8 erg cmâ3 is comparable to the turbulent and gravitational energy densities in the region. We find that the magnetic field direction is very well aligned with the whole of the IRS 3 bipolar outflow structure. We find that the median value of polarization fractions is 3.0% at 450 ÎŒm in the central 3âČ region, which is larger than the median value of 1.2% at 850 ÎŒm. The trend could be due to the better alignment of warmer dust in the strong radiation environment. We also find that polarization fractions decrease with intensity at both wavelengths, with slopes, determined by fitting a Rician noise model of 0.59 ± 0.03 at 450 ÎŒm and 0.36 ± 0.04 at 850 ÎŒm, respectively. We think that the shallow slope at 850 ÎŒm is due to grain alignment at the center being assisted by strong radiation from the central young stellar objects
The JCMT BISTRO Survey: Studying the Complex Magnetic Field of L43
We present observations of polarized dust emission at 850 ÎŒm from the L43 molecular cloud, which sits in the Ophiuchus cloud complex. The data were taken using SCUBA-2/POL-2 on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope as a part of the BISTRO large program. L43 is a dense ( NH2âŒ1022 â1023 cmâ2) complex molecular cloud with a submillimeter-bright starless core and two protostellar sources. There appears to be an evolutionary gradient along the isolated filament that L43 is embedded within, with the most evolved source closest to the Sco OB2 association. One of the protostars drives a CO outflow that has created a cavity to the southeast. We see a magnetic field that appears to be aligned with the cavity walls of the outflow, suggesting interaction with the outflow. We also find a magnetic field strength of up to âŒ160 ± 30 ÎŒG in the main starless core and up to âŒ90 ± 40 ÎŒG in the more diffuse, extended region. These field strengths give magnetically super- and subcritical values, respectively, and both are found to be roughly trans-AlfvĂ©nic. We also present a new method of data reduction for these denser but fainter objects like starless cores
B-fields in Star-forming Region Observations (BISTRO): Magnetic Fields in the Filamentary Structures of Serpens Main
Abstract: We present 850 ÎŒm polarimetric observations toward the Serpens Main molecular cloud obtained using the POL-2 polarimeter on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope as part of the B-fields In STar-forming Region Observations survey. These observations probe the magnetic field morphology of the Serpens Main molecular cloud on about 6000 au scales, which consists of cores and six filaments with different physical properties such as density and star formation activity. Using the histogram of relative orientation (HRO) technique, we find that magnetic fields are parallel to filaments in less-dense filamentary structures where NH2<0.93Ă1022 cmâ2 (magnetic fields perpendicular to density gradients), while they are perpendicular to filaments (magnetic fields parallel to density gradients) in dense filamentary structures with star formation activity. Moreover, applying the HRO technique to denser core regions, we find that magnetic field orientations change to become perpendicular to density gradients again at NH2â4.6Ă1022 cmâ2. This can be interpreted as a signature of core formation. At NH2â16Ă1022 cmâ2, magnetic fields change back to being parallel to density gradients once again, which can be understood to be due to magnetic fields being dragged in by infalling material. In addition, we estimate the magnetic field strengths of the filaments (B POS = 60â300 ÎŒG)) using the DavisâChandrasekharâFermi method and discuss whether the filaments are gravitationally unstable based on magnetic field and turbulence energy densities
The JCMT BISTRO Survey: A Spiral Magnetic Field in a Hub-filament Structure, Monoceros R2
We present and analyze observations of polarized dust emission at 850 ÎŒm toward the central 1 Ă 1 pc hub-filament structure of Monoceros R2 (Mon R2). The data are obtained with SCUBA-2/POL-2 on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) as part of the B-fields in Star-forming Region Observations survey. The orientations of the magnetic field follow the spiral structure of Mon R2, which are well described by an axisymmetric magnetic field model. We estimate the turbulent component of the magnetic field using the angle difference between our observations and the best-fit model of the underlying large-scale mean magnetic field. This estimate is used to calculate the magnetic field strength using the DavisâChandrasekharâFermi method, for which we also obtain the distribution of volume density and velocity dispersion using a column density map derived from Herschel data and the C18O (J = 3 â 2) data taken with HARP on the JCMT, respectively. We make maps of magnetic field strengths and mass-to-flux ratios, finding that magnetic field strengths vary from 0.02 to 3.64 mG with a mean value of 1.0 ± 0.06 mG, and the mean critical mass-to-flux ratio is 0.47 ± 0.02. Additionally, the mean AlfvĂ©n Mach number is 0.35 ± 0.01. This suggests that, in Mon R2, the magnetic fields provide resistance against large-scale gravitational collapse, and the magnetic pressure exceeds the turbulent pressure. We also investigate the properties of each filament in Mon R2. Most of the filaments are aligned along the magnetic field direction and are magnetically subcritical