MAGNETIC FIELD STRUCTURE OF THE HH 1-2 REGION: NEAR-INFRARED POLARIMETRY OF POINT-LIKE SOURCES

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/708/1/758· OSTI ID:21392444

Kwon, Jungmi; Pak, Soojong ^[1]; Choi, Minho ^[2]; Kandori, Ryo; Tamura, Motohide ^[3]; Nagata, Tetsuya ^[4]; Sato, Shuji ^[5]

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1. School of Space Research, Kyung Hee University, 1 Seocheon-dong, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do 446-701 (Korea, Republic of)
2. International Center for Astrophysics, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, Daedukdaero 838, Yuseong, Daejeon 305-348 (Korea, Republic of)
3. National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan)
4. Department of Astronomy, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502 (Japan)
5. Department of Astrophysics, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602 (Japan)

The HH 1-2 region in the L1641 molecular cloud was observed in the near-infrared (IR) J, H, and K{sub s} bands, and imaging polarimetry was performed. Seventy-six point-like sources were detected in all three bands. The near-IR polarizations of these sources seem to be caused mostly by the dichroic extinction. Using a color-color diagram, reddened sources with little IR excess were selected to trace the magnetic field structure of the molecular cloud. The mean polarization position angle of these sources is about 111 deg., which is interpreted as the projected direction of the magnetic field in the observed region of the cloud. The distribution of the polarization angle has a dispersion of about 11 deg., which is smaller than what was measured in previous studies. This small dispersion gives a rough estimate of the strength of the magnetic field to be about 130 muG and suggests that the global magnetic field in this region is quite regular and straight. In contrast, the outflows driven by young stellar objects in this region seem to have no preferred orientation. This discrepancy suggests that the magnetic field in the L1641 molecular cloud does not dictate the orientation of the protostars forming inside.

• OSTI ID: 21392444
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 708, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/708/1/758; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
CLOUDS
COLOR
GRAIN ORIENTATION
MAGNETIC FIELDS
POLARIMETRY
POLARIZATION
PROTOSTARS
STARS
MICROSTRUCTURE
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
ORGANOLEPTIC PROPERTIES
ORIENTATION
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES