We compare the magnetic field orientation for the young giant molecular cloud Vela C inferred from 500-µm polarization maps made with the BLASTPol balloon-borne polarimeter to the orientation of structures in the integrated line emission maps from Mopra observations. Averaging over the entire cloud we find that elongated structures in integrated line-intensity, or zeroth-moment maps, for low density tracers such as 12 CO and 13 CO J → 1 -0 are statistically more likely to align parallel to the magnetic field, while intermediate or high density tracers show (on average) a tendency for alignment perpendicular to the magnetic field. This observation agrees with previous studies of the change in relative orientation with column density in Vela C, and supports a model where the magnetic field is strong enough to have influenced the formation of dense gas structures within Vela C. The transition from parallel to no preferred/perpendicular orientation appears to happen between the densities traced by 13 CO and by C 18 O J → 1 -0. Using RADEX radiative transfer models to estimate the characteristic number density traced by each molecular line we find that the transition occurs at a molecular hydrogen number density of approximately 10 3 cm −3 . We also see that the Centre-Ridge (the highest column density and most active star-forming region within Vela C) appears to have a transition at a lower number density, suggesting that this may depend on the evolutionary state of the cloud.
The binary T Tauri star V582 Mon (KH 15D) is surrounded by a tilted and nodally precessing ring of dusty material, which has caused periodic occultations of one or both stars over the last 50 years. Here, we present multi-color time-series photometry (VRIJHK) throughout the 2017/2018 observing season, when the ring was covering the entire orbit of star A and gradually exposing the orbit of star B. We calculate the mean apparent magnitude of star B to be I = 14.08. Besides the periodic eclipses of star B due to its orbital motion, we observed unexpected dips in brightness indicative of partially transparent stellar-sized clumps within the ring. The wavelength dependence of these events is suggestive of extinction by dust grains significantly larger than typical interstellar dust grains. The photometric variability observed while star B is being uncovered by the trailing edge of the ring is not simply the time reversal of the behavior seen when star A was being covered by the leading edge. Whereas the leading edge appeared to be very sharply defined, the trailing edge is “clumpy” and “fuzzy” (transparent), with a more gradual transition in opacity. The clumpiness and transparency of the occulting material provide a unique opportunity to study the properties of dust grains in a likely planet-forming zone.
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