Detection of Polarized Infrared Emission by Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the MWC 1080 Nebula
- Department of Astronomy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 (United States)
- Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute 776, Daedeokdae-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34055 (Korea, Republic of)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211 (United States)
- School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences, UNSW Canberra, P.O. Box 7916, Canberra BC 2610 (Australia)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States)
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous in astrophysical environments, as revealed by their pronounced emission features at 3.3, 6.2, 7.7, 8.6, 11.3, and 12.7 μ m commonly ascribed to the C–H and C–C vibrational modes. Although these features have long been predicted to be polarized, previous searches for PAH polarization led to null or, at best, tentative detections. Here we report the definite detection of polarized PAH emission at 11.3 μ m in the nebula associated with the Herbig Be star MWC 1080. We measure a polarization degree of 1.9% ± 0.2%, which is unexpectedly high compared to models. This poses a challenge in the current understanding of the alignment of PAHs, which is required to polarize the PAH emission but thought to be substantially suppressed. PAH alignment with a magnetic field via a resonance paramagnetic relaxation process may account for such a high level of polarization.
- OSTI ID:
- 22663387
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 844, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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