Abstract We present the first results from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Perseus Polarization Survey, focusing on the magnetic field in the SVS 13A circumbinary disk. The data set includes full Stokes dust continuum observations at and 870μm, as well as molecular line emission from C17O(J = 3 → 2) at , C18O(J = 2 → 1) at , and DCN(J = 3 → 2) at angular resolution. Our observations resolve both a previously identified dust spiral and an infalling streamer, capturing their spatial and kinematic structures. The streamer is traced from scales >300 au down to the circumbinary disk. Using alignment measure (AM) maps and histograms that compare the orientations of the plane-of-sky magnetic field with local intensity and velocity gradients, we find that the AM distribution peaks at a value of 1. This AM peak strongly suggests alignment between the field and the dust total intensity emission, as well as between the field and the gas velocity, which in turn suggests grain alignment by magnetic fields. From our data, we derive a magnetic field strength,Bpos ∼ 1.1 ± 0.6 mG, and a kinetic-to-magnetic energy ratio of 0.5 ± 0.4, suggesting magnetic dominance. We also produced a map of the Alfvénic Mach number, finding along the streamer, consistent with sub-Alfvénic infalling motions. Therefore, the field is likely facilitating the inflow of material from the envelope onto the disk by constraining movement across the field lines. This represents the first detection of a magnetically sub-Alfvénic infalling streamer in a protostellar system.
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This content will become publicly available on October 8, 2026
Impact of Gravity on Changing Magnetic Field Orientations in a Sample of Massive Protostellar Clusters Observed with ALMA
Abstract The magnetic field is integral to our understanding of the formation and dynamical evolution of molecular clouds and star formation within. We present a polarimetric survey of 17 massive protostellar cluster forming clumps, covered in 34 pointings in the 230 GHz window using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. The two array configurations, C43-1 and C43-4, probe linearly polarized dust emission, hence the plane-of-the-sky orientation of magnetic fields, at resolutions of 1″and 0 4 that correspond to approximately 0.01 pc core and 103au envelope scales, respectively. The relative orientations (ROs) of the magnetic field probed at two spatial scales are analyzed for the entire protostellar cluster sample and for a subset of objects in NGC 6334. We found a bimodal distribution of ROs with peaks at 0° (parallel) and 90° (orthogonal) for the entire sample combined, as well as for NGC 6334. We investigate the physical origin of this bimodal distribution through a projected Rayleigh statistical analysis in relation to column densities and local gravity in NGC 6334. We found an excess of parallel magnetic fields at column densities >1023cm−2. The underlying cause of the RO distribution of the magnetic field is gravitational collapse at higher gas densities, which drags and reorients the magnetic field as shown in the alignment between the magnetic field and the direction of gravitational forces. The distribution of ROs observed here is consistent with the evolution of ROs of an initially sub-Alvénic cloud that becomes magnetically supercritical and super-Alvénic as the cloud collapses to form stars.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2307199
- PAR ID:
- 10704217
- Publisher / Repository:
- IOP Publishing
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Volume:
- 992
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 0004-637X
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 103
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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