Magnetic Field Morphology in Interstellar Clouds with the Velocity Gradient Technique

Abstract

Magnetic fields, while ubiquitous in many astrophysical environments, are challenging to measure observationally. Based on the properties of anisotropy of eddies in magnetized turbulence, the Velocity Gradient Technique is a method synergistic to dust polarimetry that is capable of tracing plane-of-the-sky magnetic field, measuring the magnetization of interstellar media and estimating the fraction of gravitational collapsing gas in molecular clouds using spectral line observations. In this paper, we apply this technique to five low-mass star-forming molecular clouds in the Gould Belt and compare the results to the magnetic-field orientation obtained from polarized dust emission. We find the estimates of magnetic field orientations and magnetization for both methods are statistically similar. We estimate the fraction of collapsing gas in the selected clouds. By means of the Velocity Gradient Technique, we also present the plane-of-the-sky magnetic field orientation and magnetization of the Smith cloud, for which dust polarimetry data are unavailable.

14 pages, 8 figures

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Plasma turbulence in the interstellar medium
• Magnetic field fluctuations in anisotropic, supersonic turbulence
• Predictions of Cosmic Microwave Background Foregrounds Dust Polarization Using Velocity Gradients
• The relative orientation between the magnetic field and gradients of surface brightness within thin velocity slices of 12CO and 13CO emission from the Taurus molecular cloud
• Intermittency of Fast MHD Modes and Regions of Anomalous Gradient Orientation in Low-beta Plasmas
• The physical and the geometrical properties of simulated cold HI structures