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Takashi Onaka

Publications and source records attributed to Takashi Onaka.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

From Dust to Nanodust: Resolving Circumstellar Dust from the Colliding-Wind Binary Wolf-Rayet (WR) 140

Wolf-Rayet (WR) 140 is the archetypal periodic dust-forming colliding-wind binary that hosts a carbon-rich WR (WC) star and an O-star companion with an orbital period of 7.93 years and an orbital eccentricity of 0.9. Throughout the past several decades, multiple dust-formation episodes from WR 140 have been observed that are linked to the binary orbit and occur near the time of periastron passage. Given its predictable dust-formation episodes, WR 140 presents an ideal astrophysical laboratory for investigating the formation and evolution of dust in the hostile environment around a massive binary system. In this paper, we present near- and mid-infrared (IR) spectroscopic and imaging observations of WR 140 with Subaru/SCExAO+CHARIS, Keck/NIRC2+PyWFS, and Subaru/COMICS taken between 2020 June and Sept that resolve the circumstellar dust emission linked to its most recent dust-formation episode in 2016 Dec. Our spectral energy distribution (SED) analysis of WR 140's resolved circumstellar dust emission reveals the presence of a hot ($T_\mathrm{d}\sim1000$ K) near-IR dust component that is co-spatial with the previously known and cooler ($T_\mathrm{d}\sim500$ K) mid-IR dust component composed of $300-500$ Å-sized dust grains. We attribute the hot near-IR dust emission to the presence of nano-sized ("nanodust") grains and suggest they were formed from grain-grain collisions or the rotational disruption of the larger grain size population by radiative torques in the strong radiation field from the central binary. Lastly, we speculate on the astrophysical implications of nanodust formation around colliding-wind WC binaries, which may present an early source of carbonaceous nanodust in the interstellar medium.

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Near-infrared spectroscopy of a massive young stellar object in the direction toward the Galactic Center: XCN and aromatic C-D features

We report near-infrared (2.5--5 micron) long-slit (~ 30 arcsec) spectroscopy of a young stellar object in the direction toward the Galactic center with the Infrared Camera on board the AKARI satellite. The present target is suggested to be AFGL 2006 based on its very red color and close location. The spectra show strong absorption features of H$_2$O and CO$_2$ ices, and emission of HI Br alpha recombination line and the 3.3 micron band, the latter of which originates from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) or materials containing PAHs. The spectra show a broad, complex absorption feature at 4.65 micron, which is well explained by a combination of absorption features of CO ice, CO gas, and XCN, and HI Pf beta emission. The spectra also indicate excess emission at 4.4 micron. The characteristics of the spectra suggest that the object is a massive young stellar object. The XCN feature shows a good correlation with the Br alpha emission, suggesting that the photolysis by ultraviolet photons plays an important role in the formation of the XCN carriers, part of which are attributed to OCN$^-$. The 4.4 micron emission shows a good correlation with the 3.3 micron PAH emission, providing supporting evidence that it comes from the aromatic C-D stretching vibration. The formation of OCN$^-$ is of importance for the formation process of prebiotic matter in the interstellar medium (ISM), while the detection of aromatic C-D emission provides valuable information on the deuteration process of PAHs in the ISM and implications on the hiding site of the missing deuterium in the ISM.

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JCMT BISTRO Observations: Magnetic Field Morphology of Bubbles Associated with NGC 6334

We study the HII regions associated with the NGC 6334 molecular cloud observed in the sub-millimeter and taken as part of the B-fields In STar-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) Survey. In particular, we investigate the polarization patterns and magnetic field morphologies associated with these HII regions. Through polarization pattern and pressure calculation analyses, several of these bubbles indicate that the gas and magnetic field lines have been pushed away from the bubble, toward an almost tangential (to the bubble) magnetic field morphology. In the densest part of NGC 6334, where the magnetic field morphology is similar to an hourglass, the polarization observations do not exhibit observable impact from HII regions. We detect two nested radial polarization patterns in a bubble to the south of NGC 6334 that correspond to the previously observed bipolar structure in this bubble. Finally, using the results of this study, we present steps (incorporating computer vision; circular Hough Transform) that can be used in future studies to identify bubbles that have physically impacted magnetic field lines.

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Laboratory measurements of stretching band strengths of deuterated Quenched Carbonaceous Composites (D-QCC)

The observed large variation in the abundance of deuterium (D) in the interstellar medium (ISM) suggests that a significant fraction of D may be depleted into polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Signatures of deuteration of PAHs are expected to appear most clearly through C-D stretching modes at 4.4--4.7 micron, whose strengths in emission spectra relative to those of C-H stretching modes at 3.3--3.5 micron provide the relative abundance of D to hydrogen (H) in PAHs once we have accurate relative band strengths of both stretching modes. We report experimental results of the band strength of C-D stretching modes relative to C-H. We employ a laboratory analogue of interstellar carbonaceous dust, Quenched Carbonaceous Composite (QCC), and synthesize deuterated QCC (D-QCC) by replacing the starting gas of CH$_4$ of QCC by mixtures of CH$_4$ and CD$_4$ with various ratios. Infrared spectra of D-QCC are taken to estimate the relative band strengths of the stretching modes, while the D/H ratios in the D-QCC samples are measured with a nano-scale secondary ion mass spectrometer (NanoSIMS). We obtain that the relative strength of aromatic and aliphatic C-D to C-H stretches is 0.56 +/- 0.04 and 0.38 +/- 0.01 per D/H, respectively. The ratio for the aromatic stretches is in good agreement with the results of theoretical calculations, while that of aliphatic stretches is smaller than that of aromatic. The present results do not significantly change the D/H ratios in the interstellar PAHs previously estimated from observed spectra.

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The JCMT BISTRO Survey: A Spiral Magnetic Field in a Hub-filament Structure, Monoceros R2

We present and analyze observations of polarized dust emission at 850 $μ$m towards the central 1 pc $\times$ 1 pc hub-filament structure of Monoceros R2 (Mon R2). The data are obtained with SCUBA-2/POL-2 on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) as part of the BISTRO (B-fields in Star-forming Region Observations) survey. The orientations of the magnetic field follow the spiral structure of Mon R2, which are well-described by an axisymmetric magnetic field model. We estimate the turbulent component of the magnetic field using the angle difference between our observations and the best-fit model of the underlying large-scale mean magnetic field. This estimate is used to calculate the magnetic field strength using the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method, for which we also obtain the distribution of volume density and velocity dispersion using a column density map derived from $Herschel$ data and the C$^{18}$O ($J$ = 3-2) data taken with HARP on the JCMT, respectively. We make maps of magnetic field strengths and mass-to-flux ratios, finding that magnetic field strengths vary from 0.02 to 3.64 mG with a mean value of 1.0 $\pm$ 0.06 mG, and the mean critical mass-to-flux ratio is 0.47 $\pm$ 0.02. Additionally, the mean Alfvén Mach number is 0.35 $\pm$ 0.01. This suggests that in Mon R2, magnetic fields provide resistance against large-scale gravitational collapse, and magnetic pressure exceeds turbulent pressure. We also investigate the properties of each filament in Mon R2. Most of the filaments are aligned along the magnetic field direction and are magnetically sub-critical.

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The JCMT BISTRO-2 Survey: Magnetic Fields of the Massive DR21 Filament

We present 850 $μ$m dust polarization observations of the massive DR21 filament from the B-fields In STar-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey, using the POL-2 polarimeter and the SCUBA-2 camera on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. We detect ordered magnetic fields perpendicular to the parsec-scale ridge of the DR21 main filament. In the sub-filaments, the magnetic fields are mainly parallel to the filamentary structures and smoothly connect to the magnetic fields of the main filament. We compare the POL-2 and Planck dust polarization observations to study the magnetic field structures of the DR21 filament on 0.1--10 pc scales. The magnetic fields revealed in the Planck data are well aligned with those of the POL-2 data, indicating a smooth variation of magnetic fields from large to small scales. The plane-of-sky magnetic field strengths derived from angular dispersion functions of dust polarization are 0.6--1.0 mG in the DR21 filament and $\sim$ 0.1 mG in the surrounding ambient gas. The mass-to-flux ratios are found to be magnetically supercritical in the filament and slightly subcritical to nearly critical in the ambient gas. The alignment between column density structures and magnetic fields changes from random alignment in the low-density ambient gas probed by Planck to mostly perpendicular in the high-density main filament probed by JCMT. The magnetic field structures of the DR21 filament are in agreement with MHD simulations of a strongly magnetized medium, suggesting that magnetic fields play an important role in shaping the DR21 main filament and sub-filaments.

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Nested Dust Shells around the Wolf-Rayet Binary WR 140 observed with JWST

Massive colliding-wind binaries that host a Wolf-Rayet (WR) star present a potentially important source of dust and chemical enrichment in the interstellar medium (ISM). However, the chemical composition and survival of dust formed from such systems is not well understood. The carbon-rich WR (WC) binary WR~140 presents an ideal astrophysical laboratory for investigating these questions given its well-defined orbital period and predictable dust-formation episodes every 7.93 years around periastron passage. We present observations from our Early Release Science program (ERS1349) with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) Medium-Resolution Spectrometer (MRS) and Imager that reveal the spectral and spatial signatures of nested circumstellar dust shells around WR~140. MIRI MRS spectroscopy of the second dust shell and Imager detections of over 17 shells formed throughout the past $\gtrsim130$ years confirm the survival of carbonaceous dust grains from WR~140 that are likely carriers of "unidentified infrared" (UIR)-band features at 6.4 and 7.7 $μ$m. The observations indicate that dust-forming WC binaries can enrich the ISM with organic compounds and carbonaceous dust.

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Detection of a broad 8 $μ$m UIR feature in the mid-infrared spectrum of WR 125 observed with Subaru/COMICS

We present the detection of a broad 8 $μ$m feature in newly formed dust around the carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet (WC) binary WR 125 from N-band low-resolution (NL; R$\sim$250) spectroscopy between 7.3-13.6 $μ$m and N-band (11.7 $μ$m) and Q-band (18.8 $μ$m) imaging with Subaru/COMICS in 2019 October. WR 125 is a colliding wind binary (${\rm WC7+O9}$) that exhibited renewed dust formation starting in 2018, $\sim$28 years after its first dust formation episode had been observed. We also compare our infrared photometry with historical observations and revise the dust-formation period of WR 125 to 28.1 years. Archival infrared spectra of five dusty WC stars, WR 48a, WR 98a, WR 104, WR 112 and WR 118, obtained with ISO/SWS are reanalyzed and compared with the WR 125 spectrum to search for a similar feature. We analyze the dusty WC spectra using two different extinction curves to investigate the impact of interstellar extinction correction on the presence and/or properties of the 8 $μ$m feature. All of the dusty WC spectra dereddened with the two different extinction curves show a broad feature around 8 $μ$m (FWHM$\sim$1-2 $μ$m). We suggest that these 8 $μ$m features seen in the dusty WC spectra are related to the Class C unidentified infrared (UIR) features.

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PDRs4All: A JWST Early Release Science Program on radiative feedback from massive stars

Massive stars disrupt their natal molecular cloud material through radiative and mechanical feedback processes. These processes have profound effects on the evolution of interstellar matter in our Galaxy and throughout the Universe, from the era of vigorous star formation at redshifts of 1-3 to the present day. The dominant feedback processes can be probed by observations of the Photo-Dissociation Regions (PDRs) where the far-ultraviolet photons of massive stars create warm regions of gas and dust in the neutral atomic and molecular gas. PDR emission provides a unique tool to study in detail the physical and chemical processes that are relevant for most of the mass in inter- and circumstellar media including diffuse clouds, proto-planetary disks and molecular cloud surfaces, globules, planetary nebulae, and star-forming regions. PDR emission dominates the infrared (IR) spectra of star-forming galaxies. Most of the Galactic and extragalactic observations obtained with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will therefore arise in PDR emission. In this paper we present an Early Release Science program using the MIRI, NIRSpec, and NIRCam instruments dedicated to the observations of an emblematic and nearby PDR: the Orion Bar. These early JWST observations will provide template datasets designed to identify key PDR characteristics in JWST observations. These data will serve to benchmark PDR models and extend them into the JWST era. We also present the Science-Enabling products that we will provide to the community. These template datasets and Science-Enabling products will guide the preparation of future proposals on star-forming regions in our Galaxy and beyond and will facilitate data analysis and interpretation of forthcoming JWST observations.

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B-fields in Star-Forming Region Observations (BISTRO): Magnetic Fields in the Filamentary Structures of Serpens Main

We present 850 $μ$m polarimetric observations toward the Serpens Main molecular cloud obtained using the POL-2 polarimeter on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) as part of the B-fields In STar-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey. These observations probe the magnetic field morphology of the Serpens Main molecular cloud on about 6000 au scales, which consists of cores and six filaments with different physical properties such as density and star formation activity. Using the histogram of relative orientation (HRO) technique, we find that magnetic fields are parallel to filaments in less dense filamentary structures where $N_{H_2} < 0.93\times 10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$ (magnetic fields perpendicular to density gradients), while being perpendicular to filaments (magnetic fields parallel to density gradients) in dense filamentary structures with star formation activity. Moreover, applying the HRO technique to denser core regions, we find that magnetic field orientations change to become perpendicular to density gradients again at $N_{H_2} \approx 4.6 \times 10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$. This can be interpreted as a signature of core formation. At $N_{H_2} \approx 16 \times 10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$ magnetic fields change back to being parallel to density gradients once again, which can be understood to be due to magnetic fields being dragged in by infalling material. In addition, we estimate the magnetic field strengths of the filaments ($B_{POS} = 60-300~μ$G)) using the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method and discuss whether the filaments are gravitationally unstable based on magnetic field and turbulence energy densities.

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Theoretical study of infrared spectra of interstellar PAH molecules with N, NH & NH$_2$ incorporation

This work presents theoretical calculations of infrared spectra of nitrogen (N)-containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules with incorporation of N, NH and NH$_2$ using density functional theory (DFT). The properties of their vibrational modes in 2--15 $μ\rm m$ are investigated in relation to the Unidentified Infrared (UIR) bands. It is found that neutral PAHs, when incorporated with NH$_2$ and N (at inner positions), produce intense infrared bands at 6.2, 7.7 and 8.6 $μ\rm m$ that have been normally attributed to ionized PAHs so far. The present results suggest that strong bands at 6.2 and 11.2 $μ\rm m$ can arise from the same charge state of some N-containing PAHs, arguing that there might be some N-abundant astronomical regions where the 6.2 to 11.2 $μ\rm m$ band ratio is not a direct indicator of PAHs' ionization. PAHs with NH$_2$ and N inside the carbon structure show the UIR band features characteristic to star-forming regions as well as reflection nebulae (Class A), whereas PAHs with N at the periphery have similar spectra to the UIR bands seen in planetary nebulae and post-AGB stars (Class B). The presence of N atom at the periphery of a PAH may attract H or H$^{+}$ to form N-H and N-H$_2$ bonds, exhibiting features near 2.9--3.0 $μ\rm m$, which are not yet observationally detected. The absence of such features in the observations constrains the contribution of NH and NH$_2$ substituted PAHs that could be better tested with concentrated observations in this range. However, PAHs with N without H either at the periphery or inside the carbon structure do not have the abundance constraint due to the absence of 2.9--3.0 $μ\rm m$ features and are relevant in terms of positions of the UIR bands. Extensive theoretical and experimental studies are required to obtain deeper insight.

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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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Chiral Selection, Isotopic Abundance Shifts, and Autocatalysis of Meteoritic Amino Acids

The discovery of amino acids in meteorites has presented two clues to the origin of their processing subsequent to their formation: a slight preference for left-handedness in some of them, and isotopic anomalies in some of their constituent atoms. In this article we present theoretical results from the Supernova Neutrino Amino Acid Processing (SNAAP) model, which uses electron anti-neutrinos and the magnetic fields from source objects such as supernovae or colliding neutron stars to selectively destroy one amino acid chirality and to create isotopic abundance shifts. For plausible magnetic fields and electron anti-neutrino fluxes, non-zero, positive enantiomeric excesses, $ee$s, defined to be the relative left/right asymmetry in an amino acid population, are reviewed for two amino acids, and conditions are suggested that would produce $ee>0$ for all of the $α$-amino acids. The relatively high energy anti-neutrinos that produce the $ee$s would inevitably also produce isotopic anomalies. A nuclear reaction network was developed to describe the reactions resulting from them and the nuclides in the meteorites. At similar anti-neutrino fluxes, assumed recombination of the detritus from the anti-neutrino interactions is shown to produce appreciable isotopic anomalies in qualitative agreement with those observed for D/$^1$H and $^{15}$N/$^{14}$N. The isotopic anomalies for $^{13}$C/$^{12}$C are predicted to be small, as are also observed. Autocatalysis may be necessary for any model to produce the largest $ee$s observed in meteorites. This allows the constraints of the original SNAAP model to be relaxed, increasing the probability of meteoroid survival in sites where amino acid processing is possible. These results have obvious implications for the origin of life on Earth.

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Discovery of two infrared objects with strong ice absorption in the AKARI slit-less spectroscopic survey of the Galactic Plane

We discover two infrared objects that show deep absorption features of H2O, CO2, and CO ices in the AKARI/Infrared Camera (IRC) slit-less spectroscopic survey of the Galactic plane in 2.5--13 micron. Both objects are located neither in known star-forming regions nor in known dense clouds. For one of the objects, Object 1, we successfully extract a spectrum from 2.5 to 13 micron, which also shows several absorption features in 5--13 micron, including deep silicate absorption at 10 micron. For the other object, Object 2, only a spectrum from 3.1 to 5 micron is reliably extracted due to the presence of nearby overlapping objects and faint nebulosity. Both objects show warm (>100 K) CO gas absorption in addition to the ice absorption features, suggesting that they are embedded young stellar objects (YSOs). On the other hand, both objects have spectral energy distributions (SEDs) that peak at around 5 micron and decrease towards longer wavelengths. These characteristics of the SEDs and the presence of deep absorption features cannot easily be accounted for by standard YSO models. They may be explained as background stars behind dense clouds. We discuss possible nature of the objects and implications of the present discovery.

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The JCMT BISTRO-2 Survey: The Magnetic Field in the Center of the Rosette Molecular Cloud

We present the first 850 $μ$m polarization observations in the most active star-forming site of the Rosette Molecular Cloud (RMC, $d\sim$1.6 kpc) in the wall of the Rosette Nebula, imaged with the SCUBA-2/POL-2 instruments of the JCMT, as part of the B-Fields In Star-Forming Region Observations 2 (BISTRO-2) survey. From the POL-2 data we find that the polarization fraction decreases with the 850 $μ$m continuum intensity with $α$ = 0.49 $\pm$ 0.08 in the $p \propto I^{\rm -α}$ relation, which suggests that some fraction of the dust grains remain aligned at high densities. The north of our 850 $μ$m image reveals a "gemstone ring" morphology, which is a $\sim$1 pc-diameter ring-like structure with extended emission in the "head" to the south-west. We hypothesize that it might have been blown by feedback in its interior, while the B-field is parallel to its circumference in most places. In the south of our SCUBA-2 field the clumps are apparently connected with filaments which follow Infrared Dark Clouds (IRDCs). Here, the POL-2 magnetic field orientations appear bimodal with respect to the large-scale Planck field. The mass of our effective mapped area is $\sim$ 174 $M_\odot$ that we calculate from 850 $μ$m flux densities. We compare our results with masses from large-scale emission-subtracted Herschel 250 $μ$m data, and find agreement within 30%. We estimate the POS B-field strength in one typical subregion using the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi (DCF) technique and find 80 $\pm$ 30 $μ$G toward a clump and its outskirts. The estimated mass-to-flux ratio of $λ$ = 2.3 $\pm$ 1.0 suggests that the B-field is not sufficiently strong to prevent gravitational collapse in this subregion.

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The JCMT BISTRO Survey: The Distribution of Magnetic Field Strengths towards the OMC-1 Region

Measurement of magnetic field strengths in a molecular cloud is essential for determining the criticality of magnetic support against gravitational collapse. In this paper, as part of the JCMT BISTRO survey, we suggest a new application of the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi (DCF) method to estimate the distribution of magnetic field strengths in the OMC-1 region. We use observations of dust polarization emission at 450 $μ$m and 850 $μ$m, and C$^{18}$O (3-2) spectral line data obtained with the JCMT. We estimate the volume density, the velocity dispersion and the polarization angle dispersion in a box, 40$''$ $\times$ 40$''$ (5$\times$5 pixels), which moves over the OMC-1 region. By substituting three quantities in each box to the DCF method, we get magnetic field strengths over the OMC-1 region. We note that there are very large uncertainties in inferred field strengths, as discussed in detail in this paper. The field strengths vary from 0.8 to 26.4 mG and their mean value is about 6 mG. Additionally, we obtain maps of the mass-to-flux ratio in units of a critical value and the Alfv$\acute{e}$n mach number. The central parts of the BN-KL and South (S) clumps in the OMC-1 region are magnetically supercritical, so the magnetic field cannot support the clumps against gravitational collapse. However, the outer parts of the region are magnetically subcritical. The mean Alfv$\acute{e}$n mach number is about 0.4 over the region, which implies that the magnetic pressure exceeds the turbulent pressure in the OMC 1 region.

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The JCMT BISTRO survey: alignment between outflows and magnetic fields in dense cores/clumps

We compare the directions of molecular outflows of 62 low-mass Class 0 and I protostars in nearby (<450 pc) star-forming regions with the mean orientations of the magnetic fields on 0.05-0.5 pc scales in the dense cores/clumps where they are embedded. The magnetic field orientations were measured using the JCMT POL-2 data taken by the BISTRO-1 survey and from the archive. The outflow directions were observed with interferometers in the literature. The observed distribution of the angles between the outflows and the magnetic fields peaks between 15 and 35 degrees. After considering projection effects, our results could suggest that the outflows tend to be misaligned with the magnetic fields by 50+/-15 degrees in three-dimensional space and are less likely (but not ruled out) randomly oriented with respect to the magnetic fields. There is no correlation between the misalignment and the bolometric temperatures in our sample. In several sources, the small-scale (1000-3000 au) magnetic fields is more misaligned with the outflows than their large-scale magnetic fields, suggesting that the small-scale magnetic field has been twisted by the dynamics. In comparison with turbulent MHD simulations of core formation, our observational results are more consistent with models in which the energy densities in the magnetic field and the turbulence of the gas are comparable. Our results also suggest that the misalignment alone cannot sufficiently reduce the efficiency of magnetic braking to enable formation of the observed number of large Keplerian disks with sizes larger than 30-50 au.

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The JCMT BISTRO Survey: Magnetic Fields Associated with a Network of Filaments in NGC 1333

We present new observations of the active star-formation region NGC 1333 in the Perseus molecular cloud complex from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope B-Fields In Star-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey with the POL-2 instrument. The BISTRO data cover the entire NGC 1333 complex (~1.5 pc x 2 pc) at 0.02 pc resolution and spatially resolve the polarized emission from individual filamentary structures for the first time. The inferred magnetic field structure is complex as a whole, with each individual filament aligned at different position angles relative to the local field orientation. We combine the BISTRO data with low- and high- resolution data derived from Planck and interferometers to study the multiscale magnetic field structure in this region. The magnetic field morphology drastically changes below a scale of ~1 pc and remains continuous from the scales of filaments (~0.1 pc) to that of protostellar envelopes (~0.005 pc or ~1000 au). Finally, we construct simple models in which we assume that the magnetic field is always perpendicular to the long axis of the filaments. We demonstrate that the observed variation of the relative orientation between the filament axes and the magnetic field angles are well reproduced by this model, taking into account the projection effects of the magnetic field and filaments relative to the plane of the sky. These projection effects may explain the apparent complexity of the magnetic field structure observed at the resolution of BISTRO data toward the filament network.

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