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C. Darren Dowell

Publications and source records attributed to C. Darren Dowell.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Exploring the Magnetic Field Geometry in NGC 891 with SOFIA/HAWC+

SOFIA/HAWC+ 154 $μ$m Far-Infrared polarimetry observations of the well-studied edge-on galaxy NGC 891 are analyzed and compared to simple disk models with ordered (planar) and turbulent magnetic fields. The overall low magnitude and the narrow dispersion of fractional polarization observed in the disk require significant turbulence and a large number of turbulent decorrelation cells along the line-of-sight through the plane. Higher surface brightness regions along the major axis to either side of the nucleus show a further reduction in polarization and are consistent with a view tangent to a spiral feature in our disk models. The nucleus also has a similar low polarization, and this is inconsistent with our model spiral galaxy where the ordered magnetic field component would be nearly perpendicular to the line-of-sight through the nucleus on an edge-on view. A model with a barred spiral morphology with a magnetic field geometry derived from radio synchrotron observations of face-on barred spirals fits the data much better. There is clear evidence for a vertical field extending into the halo from one location in the disk coincident with a polarization null point seen in near-infrared polarimetry, probably due to a blowout caused by star formation. Although our observations were capable of detecting a vertical magnetic field geometry elsewhere in the halo, no clear signature was found. A reduced polarization due to a mix of planar and vertical fields in the dusty regions of the halo best explains our observations, but unusually significant turbulence cannot be ruled out.

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The JCMT BISTRO Survey: An 850/450$μ$m Polarization Study of NGC 2071IR in OrionB

We present the results of simultaneous 450 $μ$m and 850 $μ$m 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 disk-like structure and a bipolar outflow originating from the central young stellar object, IRS 3. Using the modified Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method, we obtain a plane-of-sky magnetic field strength of 563$\pm$421 $μ$G in the central $\sim$0.12 pc region from 850 $μ$m polarization data. The corresponding magnetic energy density of 2.04$\times$10$^{-8}$ erg cm$^{-3}$ 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, 3.0 \%, at 450 $μ$m in the central 3 arcminute region, which is larger than the median value of 1.2 \% at 850 $μ$m. 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 $0.59 \pm 0.03$ at 450 $μ$m and $0.36 \pm 0.04$ at 850 $μ$m, respectively. We think that the shallow slope at 850 $μ$m is due to grain alignment at the center being assisted by strong radiation from the central young stellar objects.

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Probing Polarization and the Role of Magnetic Fields in Cloud Destruction in the Keyhole Nebula

We present polarimetric observations of the Keyhole Nebula in the Carina Nebula Complex carried out using the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. The Keyhole Nebula located to the west of $η$ Carinae is believed to be disturbed by the stellar winds from the star. We observed the Keyhole Nebula at 89 $μ$m wavelength with the HAWC+ instrument. The observations cover the entire Keyhole Nebula spanning 8$'$ by 5$'$ with central position RA = 10:44:43 and Dec = -59:38:04. The typical uncertainty of polarization measurement is less than 0.5\% in the region with intensity above 5,500 MJy sr$^{-1}$. The polarization has a mean of 2.4\% with a standard deviation of 1.6\% in the region above this intensity, similar to values in other high--mass star--forming regions. The magnetic field orientation in the bar--shaped structure is similar to the large--scale magnetic field orientation. On the other hand, the magnetic field direction in the loop is not aligned with the large--scale magnetic fields but has tight alignment with the loop itself. Analysis of the magnetic field angles and the gas turbulence suggests that the field strength is $\sim$70 $μ$G in the loop. A simple comparison of the magnetic field tension to the ram pressure of $η$ Carinae's stellar wind suggests that the magnetic fields in the Keyhole Nebula are not strong enough to maintain the current structure against the impact of the stellar wind, and that the role of the magnetic field in resisting stellar feedback in the Keyhole Nebula is limited.

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Maps of Magnetic Field Strength in the OMC-1 using HAWC+ FIR Polarimetric data

Far-infrared (FIR) dust polarimetry enables the study of interstellar magnetic fields via tracing of the polarized emission from dust grains that are partially aligned with the direction of the field. The advent of high quality polarimetric data has permitted the use of statistical methods to extract both the direction and magnitude of the magnetic field. In this work, the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi technique is used to make maps of the plane-of-sky (POS) component of the magnetic field in the Orion Molecular Cloud (OMC-1) by combining polarization maps at 53, 89, 154 and 214 \micron\ from HAWC+/SOFIA with maps of density and velocity dispersion. In addition, maps of the local dispersion of polarization angles are used in conjuction with Zeeman measurements to estimate a map of the strength of the line-of-sight (LOS) component of the field. Combining these maps, information about the three-dimensional magnetic field configuration (integrated along the line-of-sight) is inferred over the OMC-1 region. POS magnetic field strengths of up to 2 mG are observed near the BN/KL object, while the OMC-1 bar shows strengths of up to a few hundred $μ$G. These estimates of the magnetic field components are used to produce maps of the mass-to-magnetic flux ratio ($M/Φ$) -- a metric for probing the conditions for star formation in molecular clouds -- and determine regions of sub- and super-criticality in OMC-1. Such maps can provide invaluable input and comparison to MHD simulations of star formation processes in filamentary structures of molecular clouds.

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Far-Infrared Polarization Spectrum of the OMC-1 Star-Forming Region

We analyze the wavelength dependence of the far-infrared polarization fraction toward the OMC-1 star forming region using observations from HAWC+/SOFIA at 53, 89, 154, and 214 $μ$m. We find that the shape of the far-infrared polarization spectrum is variable across the cloud and that there is evidence of a correlation between the slope of the polarization spectrum and the average line-of-sight temperature. The slope of the polarization spectrum tends to be negative (falling toward longer wavelengths) in cooler regions and positive or flat in warmer regions. This is very similar to what was discovered in $ρ$ Oph A via SOFIA polarimetry at 89 and 154 $μ$m. Like the authors of this earlier work, we argue that the most natural explanation for our falling spectra is line-of-sight superposition of differing grain populations, with polarized emission from the warmer regions and less-polarized emission from the cooler ones. In contrast with the earlier work on $ρ$ Oph A, we do not find a clear correlation of polarization spectrum slope with column density. This suggests that falling spectra are attributable to variations in grain alignment efficiency in a heterogeneous cloud consistent with radiative torques theory. Alternative explanations in which variations in grain alignment efficiency are caused by varying gas density rather than by varying radiation intensity are disfavored.

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HAWC+ Far-Infrared Observations of the Magnetic Field Geometry in M51 and NGC 891

SOFIA HAWC+ polarimetry at $154~\micron$ is reported for the face-on galaxy M51 and the edge-on galaxy NGC 891. For M51, the polarization vectors generally follow the spiral pattern defined by the molecular gas distribution, the far-infrared (FIR) intensity contours, and other tracers of star formation. The fractional polarization is much lower in the FIR-bright central regions than in the outer regions, and we rule out loss of grain alignment and variations in magnetic field strength as causes. When compared with existing synchrotron observations, which sample different regions with different weighting, we find the net position angles are strongly correlated, the fractional polarizations are moderately correlated, but the polarized intensities are uncorrelated. We argue that the low fractional polarization in the central regions must be due to significant numbers of highly turbulent segments across the beam and along lines of sight in the beam in the central 3 kpc of M51. For NGC 891, the FIR polarization vectors within an intensity contour of 1500 $\rm{MJy~sr^{-1}}$ are oriented very close to the plane of the galaxy. The FIR polarimetry is probably sampling the magnetic field geometry in NGC 891 much deeper into the disk than is possible with NIR polarimetry and radio synchrotron measurements. In some locations in NGC 891 the FIR polarization is very low, suggesting we are preferentially viewing the magnetic field mostly along the line of sight, down the length of embedded spiral arms. There is tentative evidence for a vertical field in the polarized emission off the plane of the disk.

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The far-infrared polarization spectrum of Rho Ophiuchi A from HAWC+/SOFIA observations

We report on polarimetric maps made with HAWC+/SOFIA toward Rho Oph A, the densest portion of the Rho Ophiuchi molecular complex. We employed HAWC+ bands C (89 $μ$m) and D (154 $μ$m). The slope of the polarization spectrum was investigated by defining the quantity R_DC = p_D/p_C, where p_C and p_D represent polarization degrees in bands C and D, respectively. We find a clear correlation between R_DC and the molecular hydrogen column density across the cloud. A positive slope (R_DC > 1) dominates the lower density and well illuminated portions of the cloud, that are heated by the high mass star Oph S1, whereas a transition to a negative slope (R_DC < 1) is observed toward the denser and less evenly illuminated cloud core. We interpret the trends as due to a combination of: (1) Warm grains at the cloud outskirts, which are efficiently aligned by the abundant exposure to radiation from Oph S1, as proposed in the radiative torques theory; and (2) Cold grains deep in the cloud core, which are poorly aligned due to shielding from external radiation. To assess this interpretation, we developed a very simple toy model using a spherically symmetric cloud core based on Herschel data, and verified that the predicted variation of R_DC is consistent with the observations. This result introduces a new method that can be used to probe the grain alignment efficiency in molecular clouds, based on the analysis of trends in the far-infrared polarization spectrum.

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The JCMT BISTRO Survey: The Magnetic Field of the Barnard 1 Star-Forming Region

We present the POL-2 850 $μ$m linear polarization map of the Barnard 1 clump in the Perseus molecular cloud complex from the B-fields In STar-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. We find a trend of decreasing polarization fraction as a function of total intensity, which we link to depolarization effects towards higher density regions of the cloud. We then use the polarization data at 850 $μ$m to infer the plane-of-sky orientation of the large-scale magnetic field in Barnard 1. This magnetic field runs North-South across most of the cloud, with the exception of B1-c where it turns more East-West. From the dispersion of polarization angles, we calculate a turbulence correlation length of $5.0 \pm 2.5$ arcsec ($1500$ au), and a turbulent-to-total magnetic energy ratio of $0.5 \pm 0.3$ inside the cloud. We combine this turbulent-to-total magnetic energy ratio with observations of NH$_3$ molecular lines from the Green Bank Ammonia Survey (GAS) to estimate the strength of the plane-of-sky component of the magnetic field through the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method. With a plane-of-sky amplitude of $120 \pm 60$ $μ$G and a criticality criterion $λ_c = 3.0 \pm 1.5$, we find that Barnard 1 is a supercritical molecular cloud with a magnetic field nearly dominated by its turbulent component.

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JCMT BISTRO survey: Magnetic Fields within the Hub-Filament Structure in IC 5146

We present the 850 $μ$m polarization observations toward the IC5146 filamentary cloud taken using the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array 2 (SCUBA-2) and its associated polarimeter (POL-2), mounted on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), as part of the B-fields In STar forming Regions Observations (BISTRO). This work is aimed at revealing the magnetic field morphology within a core-scale ($\lesssim 1.0$ pc) hub-filament structure (HFS) located at the end of a parsec-scale filament. To investigate whether or not the observed polarization traces the magnetic field in the HFS, we analyze the dependence between the observed polarization fraction and total intensity using a Bayesian approach with the polarization fraction described by the Rice likelihood function, which can correctly describe the probability density function (PDF) of the observed polarization fraction for low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) data. We find a power-law dependence between the polarization fraction and total intensity with an index of 0.56 in $A_V\sim$ 20--300 mag regions, suggesting that the dust grains in these dense regions can still be aligned with magnetic fields in the IC5146 regions. Our polarization maps reveal a curved magnetic field, possibly dragged by the contraction along the parsec-scale filament. We further obtain a magnetic field strength of 0.5$\pm$0.2 mG toward the central hub using the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method, corresponding to a mass-to-flux criticality of $\sim$ $1.3\pm0.4$ and an Alfvénic Mach number of $<$0.6. These results suggest that gravity and magnetic field is currently of comparable importance in the HFS, and turbulence is less important.

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Constraining the Active Galactic Nucleus and Starburst Properties of the IR-luminous Quasar Host Galaxy APM 08279+5255 at Redshift 4 with SOFIA

We present far-IR photometry and infrared spectrum of the z=3.9114 quasar/starburst composite system APM 08279+5255 obtained using the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)/HAWC+ and the Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Spectrograph (IRS). We decompose the IR-to-radio spectral energy distribution (SED), sampled in 51 bands, using (i) a model comprised of two-temperature modified blackbodies (MBB) and radio power-laws and (ii) a semi-analytic model, which also accounts for emission from a clumpy torus. The latter is more realistic but requires a well-sampled SED, as possible here. In the former model, we find temperatures of T_warm = 296^17_15 K and T_cold = 110^3_3 K for the warm and cold dust components, respectively. This model suggests that the cold dust component dominates the FIR energy budget (66%) but contributes only 17% to the total IR luminosity. Based on the torus models, we infer an inclination angle of i=15^8_8 degree and the presence of silicate emission, in accordance with the Type-1 active galactic nucleus nature of APM 08279+5255. Accounting for the torus' contribution to the FIR luminosity, we find a lensing-corrected star formation rate of SFR=3075x(4/mu_L) Msun yr^-1. We find that the central quasar contributes 30% to the FIR luminosity but dominates the total IR luminosity (93%). The 30% correction is in contrast to the 90% reported in previous work. In addition, the IR luminosity inferred from the torus model is a factor of two higher. These differences highlight the importance of adopting physically motivated models to properly account for IR emission in high-z quasars, which is now possible with SOFIA/HAWC+.

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Studying Magnetic Fields in Star Formation and the Turbulent Interstellar Medium

Understanding the physics of how stars form is a highly-prioritized goal of modern Astrophysics, in part because star formation is linked to both galactic dynamics on large scales and to the formation of planets on small scales. It is well-known that stars form from the gravitational collapse of molecular clouds, which are in turn formed out of the turbulent interstellar medium. Star formation is highly inefficient, with one of the likely culprits being the regulation against gravitational collapse provided by magnetic fields. Measurement of the polarized emission from interstellar dust grains, which are partially aligned with the magnetic field, provides a key tool for understanding the role these fields play in the star formation process. Over the past decade, much progress has been made by the most recent generation of polarimeters operating over a range of wavelengths (from the far-infrared through the millimeter part of the spectrum) and over a range of angular resolutions (from less than an arcsecond through fractions of a degree). Future developments in instrument sensitivity for ground-based, airborne, and space-borne polarimeters operating over range of spatial scales are critical for enabling revolutionary steps forward in our understanding of the magnetized turbulence from which stars are formed.

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The JCMT BISTRO Survey: The Magnetic Field In The Starless Core $ρ$ Ophiuchus C

We report 850~$μ$m dust polarization observations of a low-mass ($\sim$12 $M_{\odot}$) starless core in the $ρ$ Ophiuchus cloud, Ophiuchus C, made with the POL-2 instrument on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) as part of the JCMT B-fields In STar-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey. We detect an ordered magnetic field projected on the plane of sky in the starless core. The magnetic field across the $\sim$0.1~pc core shows a predominant northeast-southwest orientation centering between $\sim$40$^\circ$ to $\sim$100$^\circ$, indicating that the field in the core is well aligned with the magnetic field in lower-density regions of the cloud probed by near-infrared observations and also the cloud-scale magnetic field traced by Planck observations. The polarization percentage ($P$) decreases with an increasing total intensity ($I$) with a power-law index of $-$1.03 $\pm$ 0.05. We estimate the plane-of-sky field strength ($B_{\mathrm{pos}}$) using modified Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi (DCF) methods based on structure function (SF), auto-correlation (ACF), and unsharp masking (UM) analyses. We find that the estimates from the SF, ACF, and UM methods yield strengths of 103 $\pm$ 46 $μ$G, 136 $\pm$ 69 $μ$G, and 213 $\pm$ 115 $μ$G, respectively. Our calculations suggest that the Ophiuchus C core is near magnetically critical or slightly magnetically supercritical (i.e. unstable to collapse). The total magnetic energy calculated from the SF method is comparable to the turbulent energy in Ophiuchus C, while the ACF method and the UM method only set upper limits for the total magnetic energy because of large uncertainties.

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HAWC+/SOFIA Multiwavelength Polarimetric Observations of OMC-1

We report new polarimetric and photometric maps of the massive star-forming region OMC-1 using the HAWC+ instrument on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). We present continuum polarimetric and photometric measurements of this region at 53, 89, 154, and 214 microns at angular resolutions of 5.1, 7.9, 14.0, and 18.7 arcseconds for the four bands, respectively. The photometric maps enable the computation of improved SEDs for the region. We find that at the longer wavelengths, the inferred magnetic field configuration matches the `hourglass' configuration seen in previous studies, indicating magnetically-regulated star formation. The field morphology differs at the shorter wavelengths. The magnetic field inferred at these wavelengths traces the bipolar structure of the explosive Becklin-Neugebauer (BN)/Kleinman-Low (KL) outflow emerging from OMC-1 behind the Orion Nebula. Using statistical methods to estimate the field strength in the region, we find that the explosion dominates the magnetic field near the center of the feature. Farther out, the magnetic field is close to energetic equilibrium with the ejecta and may be providing confinement to the explosion. The correlation between polarization fraction and the local polarization angle dispersion indicates that the depolarization as a function of unpolarized intensity is a result of intrinsic field geometry as opposed to decreases in grain alignment efficiency in denser regions.

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SOFIA Far Infrared Imaging Polarimetry of M82 and NGC 253: Exploring the Super-Galactic Wind

We present Far-Infrared polarimetry observations of M82 at 53 and $154~μ\rm{m}$ and NGC 253 at $89~μ\rm{m}$, which were taken with HAWC+ in polarimetry mode on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). The polarization of M82 at $53~μ\rm{m}$ clearly shows a magnetic field geometry perpendicular to the disk in the hot dust emission. For M82 the polarization at $154~μ\rm{m}$ shows a combination of field geometry perpendicular to the disk in the nuclear region, but closer to parallel to the disk away from the nucleus. The fractional polarization at $53~μ\rm{m}$ $(154~μ\rm{m})$ ranges from 7% (3%) off nucleus to 0.5% (0.3%) near the nucleus. A simple interpretation of the observations of M82 invokes a massive polar outflow, dragging the field along, from a region $\sim 700$~pc in diameter that has entrained some of the gas and dust, creating a vertical field geometry seen mostly in the hotter $(53~μ\rm{m})$ dust emission. This outflow sits within a larger disk with a more typical planar geometry that more strongly contributes to the cooler $(154~μ\rm{m})$ dust emission. For NGC 253, the polarization at $89~μ\rm{m}$ is dominated by a planar geometry in the tilted disk, with weak indication of a vertical geometry above and below the plane from the nucleus. The polarization observations of NGC 253 at $53~μ\rm{m}$ were of insufficient S/N for detailed analysis.

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SOFIA/HAWC+ detection of a gravitationally lensed starburst galaxy at $z$ = 1.03

We present the detection at 89 $μ$m (observed frame) of the {\it Herschel}-selected gravitationally lensed starburst galaxy HATLASJ1429-0028 (also known as G15v2.19) in 15 minutes with the High-resolution Airborne Wideband Camera-plus (HAWC+) onboard the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). The spectacular lensing system consists of an edge-on foreground disk galaxy at $z$ = 0.22 and a nearly complete Einstein ring of an intrinsic ultra-luminous infrared galaxy at $z$ = 1.03. Is this high IR luminosity powered by pure star formation (SF) or also an active galactic nucleus (AGN)? Previous nebular line diagnostics indicate that it is star-formation dominated. We perform a 27-band multi-wavelength spectral energy distribution modeling (SED) including the new SOFIA/HAWC+ data to constrain the fractional AGN contribution to the total IR luminosity. The AGN fraction in the IR turns out to be negligible. In addition, J1429-0028 serves as a testbed for comparing SED results from different models/templates and SED codes (MAGPHYS, SED3FIT, and CIGALE). We stress that star formation history is the dominant source of uncertainty in the derived stellar mass (as high as a factor of $\sim$ 10) even in the case of extensive photometric coverage. Furthermore, the detection of a source at $z$ $\sim$ 1 with SOFIA/HAWC+ demonstrates the potential of utilizing this facility for distant galaxy studies including the decomposition of SF/AGN components, which cannot be accomplished with other current facilities.

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HerMES: Candidate High-Redshift Galaxies Discovered with Herschel/SPIRE

We present a method for selecting $z>4$ dusty, star forming galaxies (DSFGs) using Herschel/SPIRE 250/350/500 $μm$ flux densities to search for red sources. We apply this method to 21 deg$^2$ of data from the HerMES survey to produce a catalog of 38 high-$z$ candidates. Follow-up of the first 5 of these sources confirms that this method is efficient at selecting high-$z$ DSFGs, with 4/5 at $z=4.3$ to $6.3$ (and the remaining source at $z=3.4$), and that they are some of the most luminous dusty sources known. Comparison with previous DSFG samples, mostly selected at longer wavelengths (e.g., 850 $μm$) and in single-band surveys, shows that our method is much more efficient at selecting high-$z$ DSFGs, in the sense that a much larger fraction are at $z>3$. Correcting for the selection completeness and purity, we find that the number of bright ($S_{500\,μm} \ge 30$ mJy), red Herschel sources is $3.3 \pm 0.8$ deg$^{-2}$. This is much higher than the number predicted by current models, suggesting that the DSFG population extends to higher redshifts than previously believed. If the shape of the luminosity function for high-$z$ DSFGs is similar to that at $z\sim2$, rest-frame UV based studies may be missing a significant component of the star formation density at $z=4$ to $6$, even after correction for extinction.

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Magnetic Field in The Isolated Massive Dense Clump IRAS 20126+4104

We measured polarized dust emission at 350um towards the high-mass star forming massive dense clump IRAS 20126+4104 using the SHARC II Polarimeter, SHARP, at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory. Most of the observed magnetic field vectors agree well with magnetic field vectors obtained from a numerical simulation for the case when the global magnetic field lines are inclined with respect to the rotation axis of the dense clump. The results of the numerical simulation show that rotation plays an important role on the evolution of the massive dense clump and its magnetic field. The direction of the cold CO 1-0 bipolar outflow is parallel to the observed magnetic field within the dense clump as well as the global magnetic field, as inferred from optical polarimetry data, indicating that the magnetic field also plays a critical role in an early stage of massive star formation. The large-scale Keplerian disk of the massive (proto)star rotates in almost opposite sense to the clump's envelope. The observed magnetic field morphology and the counter-rotating feature of the massive dense clump system provide hints to constrain the role of magnetic fields in the process of high mass star formation.

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The Galactic Magnetic Field's Effect in Star-Forming Region

We investigate the effect of the Milky Way's magnetic field in star forming regions using archived 350 micron polarization data on 52 Galactic star formation regions from the Hertz polarimeter module. The polarization angles and percentages for individual telescope beams were combined in order to produce a large-scale average for each source and for complexes of sources. In more than 80% of the sources, we find a meaningful mean magnetic field direction, implying the existence of an ordered magnetic field component at the scale of these sources. The average polarization angles were analyzed with respect to the Galactic coordinates in order to test for correlations between polarization percentage, polarization angle, intensity, and Galactic location. No correlation was found, which suggests that the magnetic field in dense molecular clouds is decoupled from the large-scale Galactic magnetic field. Finally, we show that the magnetic field directions in the complexes are consistent with a random distribution on the sky.

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