MAGNETIC FIELD STRUCTURES AND TURBULENT COMPONENTS IN THE STAR-FORMING MOLECULAR CLOUDS OMC-2 AND OMC-3

Journal Article · Sun Jun 20 04:00:00 EDT 2010 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/716/2/893· OSTI ID:21455250

Poidevin, Frederick ^[1]; Bastien, Pierre ^[2]

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1. Universidade de Sao Paulo, Instituto de Astronomia, Geofisica e CIencas Atmosfericas, Rua do Matao 1226, Butanta, Sao Paulo, SP 05508-900 (Brazil)
2. Departement de Physique and Observatoire du Mont-Megantic, Universite de Montreal, C.P. 6128, Succ. Centre-ville, Montreal, Quebec H3C 3J7 (Canada)

The SCUBA polarized 850 {mu}m thermal emission data of the OMC-2 region in Orion A are added to and homogeneously reduced with data already available in the OMC-3 region. The data set shows that OMC-2 is a region generally less polarized than OMC-3. Where coincident, most of the 850 {mu}m polarization pattern is similar to that measured in 350 {mu}m polarization data. Only 850 {mu}m polarimetry data have been obtained in and around MMS7, FIR1 and FIR2, and in the region south of FIR6. A realignment of the polarization vectors with the filament can be seen near FIR1 in the region south of OMC-3. An analysis shows that the energy injected by CO outflows and H{sub 2} jets associated with OMC-2 and OMC-3 does not appear to alter the polarization patterns at a scale of the 14'' resolution beam. A second-order structure function analysis of the polarization position angles shows that OMC-2 is a more turbulent region than OMC-3. OMC-3 appears to be a clear case of a magnetically dominated region with respect to the turbulence. However, for OMC-2 it is not clear that this is the case. A more in-depth analysis of five regions displayed along OMC-2/3 indicates a decrease of the mean polarization degree and an increase of the turbulent angular dispersion from north to south. A statistical analysis suggests the presence of two depolarization regimes in our maps: one regime including the effects of the cores, the other one excluding it.

• OSTI ID: 21455250
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 716; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON MONOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
FUNCTIONS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLARIMETRY
STARS
STRUCTURE FUNCTIONS