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The polarisation of light induced by aligned interstellar dust serves as a significant tool in investigating cosmic magnetic fields and dust properties, while posing a challenge in characterising the polarisation of the cosmic microwave background and other sources. To establish dust polarisation as a reliable tool, the physics of the grain alignment process must be studied thoroughly. The magnetically enhanced radiative torque (MRAT) alignment is the only mechanism that can induce highly efficient alignment of grains with magnetic fields required by polarisation observations of the diffuse interstellar medium. Here, we aim to test the MRAT mechanism in starless cores using the multi-wavelength polarisation from optical to submillimetre. Our numerical modelling of dust polarisation using the MRAT theory demonstrates that the alignment efficiency of starlight polarisation (p_ext/A_V) and the degree of thermal dust polarisation (p_em) first decrease slowly with increasing visual extinction (A_V) and then fall steeply as ∝A_v^-1at largeA_Vdue to the loss of grain alignment, which explains the phenomenon known as polarisation holes. Visual extinction at the transition from shallow to steep slope (A_V^loss) increases with maximum grain size. By applying physical profiles suitable for a starless core, 109 in the Pipe nebula (Pipe-109), our model successfully reproduces the existing observations of starlight polarisation in the R band (0.65 μm) and the H band (1.65 μm), as well as emission polarisation in the submillimetre (870 μm). Successful modelling of observational data requires perfect alignment of large grains, which serves as evidence for the MRAT mechanism, and an increased maximum grain size with higher elongation at higherA_V. The latter reveals the first evidence for a new model of anisotropic grain growth induced by magnetic grain alignment. This paper introduces the framework for probing the fundamental physics of grain alignment and dust evolution using multi-wavelength dust polarisation (GRADE-POL), and it is the first of our GRADE-POL series. 

Abstract Polarization observations of the Milky Way and many other spiral galaxies have found a close correspondence between the orientation of spiral arms and magnetic field lines on scales of hundreds of parsecs. This paper presents polarization measurements at 214μm toward 10 filamentary candidate “bones” in the Milky Way using the High-resolution Airborne Wide-band Camera on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. These data were taken as part of the Filaments Extremely Long and Dark: A Magnetic Polarization Survey and represent the first study to resolve the magnetic field in spiral arms at parsec scales. We describe the complex yet well-defined polarization structure of all 10 candidate bones, and we find a mean difference and standard deviation of −74° ± 32° between their filament axis and the plane-of-sky magnetic field, closer to a field perpendicular to their length rather than parallel. By contrast, the 850μm polarization data from Planck on scales greater than 10 pc show a nearly parallel mean difference of 3° ± 21°. These findings provide further evidence that magnetic fields can change orientation at the scale of dense molecular clouds, even along spiral arms. Finally, we use a power law to fit the dust polarization fraction as a function of total intensity on a cloud-by-cloud basis and find indices between −0.6 and −0.9, with a mean and standard deviation of −0.7 ± 0.1. The polarization, dust temperature, and column density data presented in this work are publicly available online. 

Abstract Stars primarily form in galactic spiral arms within dense, filamentary molecular clouds. The largest and most elongated of these molecular clouds are referred to as “bones,” which are massive, velocity-coherent filaments (lengths ∼20 to >100 pc, widths ∼1–2 pc) that run approximately parallel and in close proximity to the Galactic plane. While these bones have been generally well characterized, the importance and structure of their magnetic fields (B-fields) remain largely unconstrained. Through the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy Legacy program FIlaments Extremely Long and Dark: a Magnetic Polarization Survey (FIELDMAPS), we mapped the B-fields of 10 bones in the Milky Way. We found that their B-fields are varied, with no single preferred alignment along the entire spine of the bones. At higher column densities, the spines of the bones are more likely to align perpendicularly to the B-fields, although this is not ubiquitous, and the alignment shows no strong correlation with the locations of identified young stellar objects. We estimated the B-field strengths across the bones and found them to be ∼30–150μG at parsec scales. Despite the generally low virial parameters, the B-fields are strong compared to the local gravity, suggesting that B-fields play a significant role in resisting global collapse. Moreover, the B-fields may slow and guide gas flow during dissipation. Recent star formation within the bones may be due to high-density pockets at smaller scales, which could have formed before or simultaneously with the bones. 

Abstract Continuum polarization over the UV-to-microwave range is due to dichroic extinction (or emission) by asymmetric, aligned dust grains. Scattering can also be an important source of polarization, especially at short wavelengths. Because of both grain alignment and scattering physics, the wavelength dependence of the polarization, generally, traces the size of the aligned grains. Similarly because of the differing wavelength dependencies of dichroic extinction and scattering polarization, the two can generally be reliably separated. Ultraviolet (UV) polarimetry therefore provides a unique probe of the smallest dust grains (diameter$$< 0.09~\upmu \text{m}$$ $<0.09\text{μm}$), their mineralogy and interaction with the environment. However, the current observational status of interstellar UV polarization is very poor with less than 30 lines of sight probed. With the modern, quantitative and well-tested, theory of interstellar grain alignment now available, we have the opportunity to advance the understanding of the interstellar medium (ISM) by executing a systematic study of the UV polarization in the ISM of the Milky Way and near-by galaxies. The Polstar mission will provide the sensitivity and observing time needed to carry out such a program (probing hundreds of stars in the Milky Way and dozens of stars in the LMC/SMC), addressing questions of dust composition as a function of size and location, radiation- and magnetic-field characteristics as well as unveiling the carrier of the 2175 Å extinction feature. In addition, using high-resolution UV line spectroscopy Polstar will search for and probe the alignment of, and polarization from, aligned atoms and ions - so called “Ground State Alignment”, a potentially powerful new probe of magnetic fields in the diffuse ISM. 

Abstract We have measured the gas temperature in the IC 63 photodissociation region (PDR) using the S(1) and S(5) pure rotation lines of molecular hydrogen with SOFIA/EXES. We divide the PDR into three regions for analysis based on the illumination from γ Cas: sunny, ridge, and shady. Constructing rotation diagrams for the different regions, we obtain temperatures of T ex = 562 − 43 + 52 K toward the ridge and T ex = 495 − 25 + 28 K in the shady side. The H 2 emission was not detected on the sunny side of the ridge, likely due to the photodissociation of H 2 in this gas. Our temperature values are lower than the value of T ex = 685 ± 68 K using the S(1), S(3), and S(5) pure rotation lines, derived by Thi et al. using lower spatial resolution ISO-SWS data at a different location of the IC 63 PDR. This difference indicates that the PDR is inhomogeneous and illustrates the need for high-resolution mapping of such regions to fully understand their physics. The detection of a temperature gradient correlated with the extinction into the cloud, points to the ability of using H 2 pure rotational line spectroscopy to map the gas temperature on small scales. We used a PDR model to estimate the FUV radiation and corresponding gas densities in IC 63. Our results shows the capability of SOFIA/EXES to resolve and provide detailed information on the temperature in such regions. 

Abstract Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud and mostly irradiated by the massive star cluster R136, 30 Doradus is an ideal target to test the leading theory of grain alignment and rotational disruption by RAdiative Torques (RATs). Here, we use publicly available polarized thermal dust emission observations of 30 Doradus at 89, 154, and 214 μ m using SOFIA/HAWC+. We analyze the variation of the dust polarization degree ( p ) with the total emission intensity ( I ), the dust temperature ( T d ), and the gas column density ( N H ) constructed from Herschel data. The 30 Doradus complex is divided into two main regions relative to R136, namely North and South. In the North, we find that the polarization degree first decreases and then increases before decreasing again when the dust temperature increases toward the irradiating cluster R136. The first depolarization likely arises from the decrease in grain alignment efficiency toward the dense medium due to the attenuation of the interstellar radiation field and the increase in the gas density. The second trend (the increase of p with T d ) is consistent with the RAT alignment theory. The final trend (the decrease of p with T d ) is consistent with the RAT alignment theory only when the grain rotational disruption by RATs is taken into account. In the South, we find that the polarization degree is nearly independent of the dust temperature, while the grain alignment efficiency is higher around the peak of the gas column density and decreases toward the radiation source. The latter feature is also consistent with the prediction of rotational disruption by RATs. 

Abstract Dust-induced polarization in the interstellar medium (ISM) is due to asymmetric grains aligned with an external reference direction, usually the magnetic field. For both the leading alignment theories, the alignment of the grain’s angular momentum with one of its principal axes and the coupling with the magnetic field requires the grain to be paramagnetic. Of the two main components of interstellar dust, silicates are paramagnetic, while carbon dust is diamagnetic. Hence, carbon grains are not expected to align in the ISM. To probe the physics of carbon grain alignment, we have acquired Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy/Higch-resolution Airborne Wideband Camera-plus far-infrared photometry and polarimetry of the carbon-rich circumstellar envelope (CSE) of the asymptotic giant branch star IRC+10° 216. The dust in such CSEs are fully carbonaceous and thus provide unique laboratories for probing carbon grain alignment. We find a centrosymmetric, radial, polarization pattern, where the polarization fraction is well correlated with the dust temperature. Together with estimates of a low fractional polarization from optical polarization of background stars, we interpret these results to be due to a second-order, direct radiative external alignment of grains without internal alignment. Our results indicate that (pure) carbon dust does not contribute significantly to the observed ISM polarization, consistent with the nondetection of polarization in the 3.4μm feature due to aliphatic CH bonds on the grain surface.