A Submillimeter Polarization Analysis of Frosty Leo

Abstract

We present a polarimetric investigation of the protoplanetary nebula Frosty Leo performed with the Submillimeter Array. We were able to detect, in the low continuum level (peak at 14.4 mJy beam${}^{-1}$), a marginal polarization at $\sim 2.6\sigma$. The molecular line investigation based on the CO $J=3\to 2$ emission shows a peak emission of 68.1 Jy beam${}^{-1}$ km s${}^{-1}$ and the polarization detection in this CO line is also marginal, with a peak at $\sim 3.8\sigma$. In both cases, it was therefore not possible to use the electric vector maps (B-field) to accurately trace the magnetic field (B-field) within the PPN. The spatio-kinematic modelling realised with the different velocity channel maps indicates three main structures: a distorted torus accompanied by a bipolar outflow or jet aligned with its axis and a flattened spherical "cap". The comparison of the CO polarization segments with our model suggests that the polarized emission probably arises in the first two components.

8 pages, Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

References in corpus (6)

• Unveiling the Role of the Magnetic Field at the Smallest Scales of Star Formation
• Magnetic fields in planetary nebulae and post-AGB nebulae
• New light on Galactic post-asymptotic giant branch stars. I. First distance catalogue
• Millimeter polarisation of the protoplanetary nebula OH 231.8+4.2: A follow-up study with CARMA
• The magnetic field of the proto-planetary nebula candidate IRAS 19296+2227
• Alignment of Dust by Radiative Torque: Recent Developments

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Low Level Carbon Monoxide Line Polarization in two Protoplanetary Disks: HD 142527 and IM Lup
• The Near-Infrared Polarization of the Pre-Planetary Nebula Frosty Leo