The Magnetic Field Structure in W51A

Abstract

We present 850 micron imaging polarimetry of the W51A massive star forming region performed with SCUBA on the JCMT. From the polarimetry we infer the column-averaged magnetic field direction, projected onto the plane of the sky. We find that the magnetic field geometry in the region is complicated. We compare the field geometry with 6 cm and CS J=7-6 emission and determine that the magnetic field must be relatively weak and plays a passive role, allowing itself to be shaped by pressure forces and dynamics in the ionised and neutral gases. Comparisons are drawn between our data and 1.3 mm BIMA interferometric polarimetry data, from which we conclude that the magnetic field must increase in importance as we move to smaller scales and closer to sites of active star formation.

Accepted for publication in A&A (3 figures)

References in corpus (4)

• Density, Velocity, and Magnetic Field Structure in Turbulent Molecular Cloud Models
• Polarized Sub-Millimetre Emission from Filamentary Molecular Clouds
• Interferometric Mapping of Magnetic Fields in Star-forming Regions II. NGC2024 FIR5
• Submillimeter Imaging Polarimetry of the NGC 7538 Region

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• GTC/CanariCam Mid-IR Polarimetry of Magnetic Fields in Star-Forming Region W51 IRS2