Polarized Light from Massive Protoclusters (POLIMAP). I. Dissecting the Role of Magnetic Fields in the Massive Infrared Dark Cloud G28.37+0.07
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2024
Magnetic fields may play a crucial role in setting the initial conditions of massive star and star cluster formation. To investigate this, we report SOFIA-HAWC+ 214 μm observations of polarized thermal dust emission and high-resolution GBT-Argus C18O(1-0) observations toward the massive Infrared Dark Cloud (IRDC) G28.37+0.07. Considering the local dispersion of B-field orientations, we produce a map of the B-field strength of the IRDC, which exhibits values between ∼0.03 and 1 mG based on a refined Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method proposed by Skalidis & Tassis. Comparing to a map of inferred density, the IRDC exhibits a B-n relation with a power-law index of 0.51 ± 0.02, which is consistent with a scenario of magnetically regulated anisotropic collapse. Consideration of the mass-to-flux ratio map indicates that magnetic fields are dynamically important in most regions of the IRDC. A virial analysis of a sample of massive, dense cores in the IRDC, including evaluation of magnetic and kinetic internal and surface terms, indicates consistency with virial equilibrium, sub-Alfvénic conditions, and a dominant role for B-fields in regulating collapse. A clear alignment of magnetic field morphology with the direction of the steepest column density gradient is also detected. However, there is no preferred orientation of protostellar outflow directions with the B-field. Overall, these results indicate that magnetic fields play a crucial role in regulating massive star and star cluster formation, and therefore they need to be accounted for in theoretical models of these processes.
Författare
Chi Yan Law
Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Astronomi och plasmafysik
European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Jonathan Tan
University of Virginia
Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Astronomi och plasmafysik
R. Skalidis
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Larry Morgan
Green Bank Observatory
Duo Xu
University of Virginia
Felipe de Oliveira Alves
Institut de Ciències de l'Espai (ICE) - CSIC
Ashley T. Barnes
European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Natalie Butterfield
Green Bank Observatory
P. Caselli
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Giuliana Cosentino
Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Astronomi och plasmafysik
Francesco Fontani
Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri
Jonathan D. Henshaw
Liverpool John Moores University
I. Jimenez-Serra
Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aeroespacial
Wanggi Lim
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Astrophysical Journal
0004-637X (ISSN) 1538-4357 (eISSN)
Vol. 967 2 157Ämneskategorier
Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi
Atom- och molekylfysik och optik
Fusion, plasma och rymdfysik
DOI
10.3847/1538-4357/ad39e0