SOFIA/HAWC+ Far-infrared Polarimetric Large Area CMZ Exploration Survey. II. Detection of a Magnetized Dust Ring in the Galactic Center

Butterfield, Natalie O.; Guerra, Jordan A.; Chuss, David T.; Morris, Mark R.; Paré, Dylan M.; Wollack, Edward J.; Costa, Allison H.; Hankins, Matthew J.; Mackey, Scott C.; Staguhn, Johannes; Zweibel, Ellen

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad402c

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…The DR1 observations reveal a more spatially varying magnetic field at 19 6 resolution than is seen in previous CMZ-wide surveys (∼1′, Mangilli et al 2019;Guan et al 2021). An in-depth study of the magnetic field system local to one of the molecular structures identified in DR1 indicates that the magnetic field probed by FIREPLACE traces smaller-scale molecular structures local to the CMZ than in these previous CMZ-wide surveys (Butterfield et al 2024b, hereafter referred to as FIREPLACE II).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 82%

SOFIA/HAWC+ Far-infrared Polarimetric Large-area CMZ Exploration Survey. III. Full Survey Data Set

Paré,

Butterfield,

Chuss

et al. 2024

ApJ

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We present the second data release (DR2) of the Far-InfraREd Polarimetric Large-Area CMZ Exploration (FIREPLACE) survey. This survey utilized the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy High-resolution Airborne Wideband Camera plus instrument at 214 μm (E band) at a resolution of 19.″6 to observe thermal polarized dust emission throughout the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ). DR2 consists of observations obtained in 2022 covering the region of the CMZ extending from the Brick to the Sgr C molecular clouds (corresponding to a 1° × 0.°75 region of the sky). We combine DR2 with the first FIREPLACE data release (DR1) to obtain full coverage of the CMZ (a 1.°5 × 0.°75 region of the sky). After applying total and polarized intensity significance cuts on the full FIREPLACE data set, we obtain ∼64,000 Nyquist-sampled polarization pseudovectors. The distribution of polarization pseudovectors confirms a bimodal distribution in the CMZ magnetic field orientations, recovering field components that are oriented predominantly parallel or perpendicular to the Galactic plane. This distribution of orientations is similar to what was observed in DR1 and other studies. We also inspect the magnetic fields toward a set of prominent CMZ molecular clouds (the Brick, Three Little Pigs, 50 and 20 km s−1 clouds, circumnuclear disk, CO 0.02-0.02, and Sgr C), revealing spatially varying magnetic fields having orientations that generally trace the total intensity morphologies of the clouds. We find evidence that compression from stellar winds and shear from tidal forces are prominent mechanisms influencing the structure of the magnetic fields.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 82%

SOFIA/HAWC+ Far-infrared Polarimetric Large-area CMZ Exploration Survey. III. Full Survey Data Set

Paré,

Butterfield,

Chuss

et al. 2024

ApJ

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Magnetic field at the Galactic centre from multiwavelength dust polarization

Akshaya,

Hoang

2024

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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We have mapped the magnetic field (B-field) for a region of about 30 pc around the centre of our Galaxy, which encompasses the circumnuclear disc (CND), the minispiral, and the 20 and 50 km s−1 molecular clouds, using thermal dust polarization observations obtained from SOFIA/HAWC+ and JCMT/SCUPOL. We decompose the spectra of 12CO (J = 3 → 2) transition from this region into individual cloud components and find the polarization observed at different wavelengths might be tracing completely different layers of dust along the line of sight. We use modified Davis–Chandrasekhar–Fermi methods to measure the strength of B-field projected in the plane of the sky ($B_{{}_{\mathrm{POS}}}$). The mean $B_{{}_{\mathrm{POS}}}$ of the CND and the minispiral, probed at 53 μm is of the order of ∼2 mG. $B_{{}_{\mathrm{POS}}}\!\!\!\lt \!1$ mG close to the Galactic Centre, in the region of the ionized mini-cavity within the CND, and increases outwards. However, the longer wavelength polarization at 216 μm appears to come from a dust layer that is cooler and behind the CND and has a stronger B-field of about 7 mG. The B-field strength is lowest along the Eastern Arm of the minispiral, which is also the only region with Alfvén Mach number, $\mathcal {M}_{\mathrm{A}}\gt 1$ and mass-to-flux ratio, λ ≳ 1. Such an observed weak B-field could be a result of the low resolution of the observation, where the tangled B-fields due to the strong turbulence in the high density clumps of the CND are lost within the beam size of the observation.

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SOFIA/HAWC+ Far-infrared Polarimetric Large Area CMZ Exploration Survey. II. Detection of a Magnetized Dust Ring in the Galactic Center

Cited by 2 publications

References 84 publications

SOFIA/HAWC+ Far-infrared Polarimetric Large-area CMZ Exploration Survey. III. Full Survey Data Set

SOFIA/HAWC+ Far-infrared Polarimetric Large-area CMZ Exploration Survey. III. Full Survey Data Set

Magnetic field at the Galactic centre from multiwavelength dust polarization

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