Context. Atomic gas in the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) is organized in filamentary structures. These structures usually host cold and dense molecular clumps. The Galactic magnetic field is considered to play an important role in the formation of these clumps. Aims. Our goal is to explore the role of the magnetic field in the H I -H 2 transition process. Methods. We targeted a diffuse ISM filamentary cloud toward the Ursa Major cirrus where gas transitions from atomic to molecular. We probed the magnetic field properties of the cloud with optical polarization observations. We performed multiwavelength spectroscopic observations of different species in order to probe the gas phase properties of the cloud. We observed the CO ( J = 1−0) and ( J = 2−1) lines in order to probe the molecular content of the cloud. We also obtained observations of the [C ii ] 157.6 µ m emission line in order to trace the CO-dark H 2 gas and estimate the mean volume density of the cloud. Results. We identified two distinct subregions within the cloud. One of the regions is mostly atomic, while the other is dominated by molecular gas, although most of it is CO-dark. The estimated plane-of-the-sky magnetic field strength between the two regions remains constant within uncertainties and lies in the range 13–30 µG. The total magnetic field strength does not scale with density. This implies that gas is compressed along the field lines. We also found that turbulence is trans-Alfvénic, with M A ≈ 1. In the molecular region, we detected an asymmetric CO clump whose minor axis is closer, with a 24° deviation, to the mean magnetic field orientation than the angle of its major axis. The H i velocity gradients are in general perpendicular to the mean magnetic field orientation except for the region close to the CO clump, where they tend to become parallel. This phenomenon is likely related to gas undergoing gravitational infall. The magnetic field morphology of the target cloud is parallel to the H i column density structure of the cloud in the atomic region, while it tends to become perpendicular to the H i structure in the molecular region. On the other hand, the magnetic field morphology seems to form a smaller offset angle with the total column density shape (including both atomic and molecular gas) of this transition cloud. Conclusions. In the target cloud where the H i –H 2 transition takes place, turbulence is trans-Alfvénic, and hence the magnetic field plays an important role in the cloud dynamics. Atomic gas probably accumulates preferentially along the magnetic field lines and creates overdensities where molecular gas can form. The magnetic field morphology is probed better by the total column density shape of the cloud, and not its H i column density shape.
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The role of magnetic fields in the stability and fragmentation of filamentary molecular clouds: two case studies at OMC-3 and OMC-4
We present the stability analysis of two regions, OMC-3 and OMC-4, in the massive and long molecular cloud complex of Orion A. We obtained 214 $\mu$m HAWC + /SOFIA polarization data, and we make use of archival data for the column density and C18O (1–0) emission line. We find clear depolarization in both observed regions and that the polarization fraction is anticorrelated with the column density and the polarization-angle dispersion function. We find that the filamentary cloud and dense clumps in OMC-3 are magnetically supercritical and strongly subvirial. This region should be in the gravitational collapse phase and is consistent with many young stellar objects (YSOs) forming in the region. Our histogram of relative orientation (HRO) analysis shows that the magnetic field is dynamically sub-dominant in the dense gas structures of OMC-3. We present the first polarization map of OMC-4. We find that the observed region is generally magnetically subcritical except for an elongated dense core, which could be a result of projection effect of a filamentary structure aligned close to the line of sight. The relative large velocity dispersion and the unusual positive shape parameters at high column densities in the HROs analysis suggest that our viewing angle may be close to axes of filamentary substructures in OMC-4. The dominating strong magnetic field in OMC-4 is unfavourable for star formation and is consistent with much fewer YSOs than in OMC-3.
more » « less- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10368132
- Publisher / Repository:
- Oxford University Press
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Volume:
- 514
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0035-8711
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 3024-3040
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Context. Recently, sensitive wide-bandwidth receivers in the millimetre regime have enabled us to combine large spatial and spectral coverage for observations of molecular clouds. The resulting capability to map the distributions of lines from many molecules simultaneously yields unbiased coverage of the various environments within star-forming regions.Aims. Our aim is to identify the dominant molecular cooling lines and characteristic emission features in the 1.3 mm window of distinct regions in the northern part of the Orion A molecular cloud. By defining and analysing template regions, we also intend to help with the interpretation of observations from more distant sources which cannot be easily spatially resolved.Methods. We analyse an imaging line survey covering the area of OMC-1 to OMC-3 from 200.2 to 281.8 GHz obtained with the PI230 receiver at the APEX telescope. Masks are used to define regions with distinct properties (e.g. column density or temperature ranges) from which we obtain averaged spectra. Lines of 29 molecular species (55 isotopologues) are fitted for each region to obtain the respective total intensity.Results. We find that strong sources like Orion KL have a clear impact on the emission on larger scales. Although not spatially extended, their line emission contributes substantially to spectra averaged over large regions. Conversely, the emission signatures of dense, cold regions like OMC-2 and OMC-3 (e.g. enhanced N2H+emission and low HCN/HNC ratio) seem to be difficult to pick up on larger scales, where they are eclipsed by signatures of stronger sources. In all regions, HCO+appears to contribute between 3 and 6% to the total intensity, the most stable value for all bright species. N2H+shows the strongest correlation with column density, but not with typical high-density tracers like HCN, HCO+, H2CO, or HNC. Common line ratios associated with UV illumination, CN/HNC and CN/HCO+, show ambiguous results on larger scales, suggesting that the identification of UV illuminated material may be more challenging. The HCN/HNC ratio may be related to temperature over varying scales. -
Context. The electron density ( n e − ) plays an important role in setting the chemistry and physics of the interstellar medium. However, measurements of n e − in neutral clouds have been directly obtained only toward a few lines of sight or they rely on indirect determinations. Aims. We use carbon radio recombination lines and the far-infrared lines of C + to directly measure n e − and the gas temperature in the envelope of the integral shaped filament (ISF) in the Orion A molecular cloud. Methods. We observed the C102 α (6109.901 MHz) and C109 α (5011.420 MHz) carbon radio recombination lines (CRRLs) using the Effelsberg 100 m telescope at ≈2′ resolution toward five positions in OMC-2 and OMC-3. Since the CRRLs have similar line properties, we averaged them to increase the signal-to-noise ratio of the spectra. We compared the intensities of the averaged CRRLs, and the 158 μm-[CII] and [ 13 CII] lines to the predictions of a homogeneous model for the C + /C interface in the envelope of a molecular cloud and from this comparison we determined the electron density, temperature and C + column density of the gas. Results. We detect the CRRLs toward four positions, where their velocity ( v LSR ≈ 11 km s −1 ) and widths ( σ v ≈ 1 km s −1 ) confirms that they trace the envelope of the ISF. Toward two positions we detect the CRRLs, and the 158 μm-[CII] and [ 13 CII] lines with a signal-to-noise ratio ≥5, and we find n e − = 0.65 ± 0.12 cm −3 and 0.95 ± 0.02 cm −3 , which corresponds to a gas density n H ≈ 5 × 10 3 cm −3 and a thermal pressure of p th ≈ 4 × 10 5 K cm −3 . We also constrained the ionization fraction in the denser portions of the molecular cloud using the HCN(1–0) and C 2 H(1–0) lines to x (e − ) ≤ 3 × 10 −6 . Conclusions. The derived electron densities and ionization fraction imply that x (e − ) drops by a factor ≥100 between the C + layer and the regions probed by HCN(1–0). This suggests that electron collisional excitation does not play a significant role in setting the excitation of HCN(1–0) toward the region studied, as it is responsible for only ≈10% of the observed emission.more » « less
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ABSTRACT Optical and infrared polarization mapping and recent Planck observations of the filametary cloud L1495 in Taurus show that the large-scale magnetic field is approximately perpendicular to the long axis of the cloud. We use the HAWC + polarimeter on SOFIA to probe the complex magnetic field in the B211 part of the cloud. Our results reveal a dispersion of polarization angles of 36°, about five times that measured on a larger scale by Planck. Applying the Davis–Chandrasekhar–Fermi (DCF) method with velocity information obtained from Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique 30 m C18O(1-0) observations, we find two distinct sub-regions with magnetic field strengths differing by more than a factor 3. The quieter sub-region is magnetically critical and sub-Alfv$\acute{\rm e}$nic; the field is comparable to the average field measured in molecular clumps based on Zeeman observations. The more chaotic, super-Alfv$\acute{\rm e}$nic sub-region shows at least three velocity components, indicating interaction among multiple substructures. Its field is much less than the average Zeeman field in molecular clumps, suggesting that the DCF value of the field there may be an underestimate. Numerical simulation of filamentary cloud formation shows that filamentary substructures can strongly perturb the magnetic field. DCF and true field values in the simulation are compared. Pre-stellar cores are observed in B211 and are seen in our simulation. The appendices give a derivation of the standard DCF method that allows for a dispersion in polarization angles that is not small, present an alternate derivation of the structure function version of the DCF method, and treat fragmentation of filaments.
