Starlight polarization and CO observations towards the Lupus clouds

We performed an observational study of the dark filaments Lupus 1 and Lupus 4 using both polarimetric observations of 190 stars and a sample of 72 ¹²CO profiles towards these clouds. We have estimated lower limits to the distances of Lupus 1 and Lupus 4 (≳ 140 and ≳ 125 pc, respectively). The observational strategy of the survey allows us to compare the projected magnetic field in an extended area around each cloud with the magnetic field direction observed to prevail along the clouds. Lupus 4 could have collapsed along the magnetic field lines, while in Lupus 1 the magnetic field appears to be less ordered, having the major axis of the filaments parallel to the large-scale projected magnetic field. These differences would imply that both filaments have different pattern evolutions. From the CO observations we have probed the velocity fields of the filaments and the spatial extension of the molecular gas with respect to the dust.     

A high sampling-density polarization study of the Southern Coalsack

We present a densely sampled map of visual polarimetry of stars in the direction of the Southern Coalsack dark cloud. Our sample consists of new polarimetric observations of 225 stars drawn from the spectrophotometric survey of Seidensticker, and an additional 173 stars, covering the surrounding areas of the cloud, taken from the literature. Because all the target stars have at least spectroscopic parallaxes, we can reliably investigate the spatial origins of the polarization, in three dimensions. We decompose the polarization into three components, due to (i) the wall of the local hot bubble, (ii) the Coalsack cloud and (iii) material in the Carina spiral arm. The polarization due to the Coalsack varies, both in alignment efficiency  ( p / A_V )  and in the dispersion in polarization angle, across the cloud. Using a simplified radiative transfer treatment we show that the measured polarization in background gas is significantly affected by foreground polarization, and specifically that the analysis of the Coalsack polarization must take the effects of the local hot bubble wall into consideration. Correcting for this effect as well as for the internal line-of-sight averaging in the Coalsack, we find, based on a Chandrasekhar–Fermi analysis, a plane-of-the-sky magnetic field for the Coalsack cloud of  〈 B _⊥〉= 93 ± 23 μG  . A systematic error, best described by a multiplicative factor between 0.5 and 1.5, additionally arises from radiative transfer effect uncertainties. We propose that this high value for the magnetic field in the cloud envelope is due to the fact that the Coalsack cloud is embedded in the hot interior of the Upper Centaurus–Lupus superbubble.     

Ultracompact HII regions: the impact of newly formed massive stars on their environment

Summary Ultracompact (UC)HII regions are manifestations of newly formed massive stars that are still embedded in their natal molecular cloud. They are among the brightest and most luminous single objects in the Galaxy at far infrared and radio wavelengths. Recent high spatial resolution studies, particularly at radio wavelengths, have greatly contributed to our understanding of these dynamic objects and the impact they have on their environment. A summary is given of our current understanding of the physical properties, morphologies, dynamics, number and distribution in the Galaxy, and molecular environments of UCHII regions. Recent models of the circumnebular dust imply that the graphite/silicate abundance ratio is about half that of dust in the diffuse interstellar medium. The dust cocoons are large, cool, and optically thick shortward of a few microns. There are apparently between 1700 and 3000 UCHII regions in the Galaxy. This represents 10–20% of the total O star population. There are too many UCHII regions (just counting those studied with the VLA) to be consistent with the short dynamical lifetimes of this very compact stage of evolution. Both the morphologies and the large number can be understood if UC HII regions are bow shocks. Models of stellar wind supported bow shocks are discussed and consequences for the dynamics and morphologies of the ionized and molecular gas are explored.     

SCUBA polarization observations of the magnetic fields in the pre-stellar cores L1498 and L1517B

We have mapped linearly polarized dust emission from the pre-stellar cores L1498 and L1517B with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) using the Submillimetre Common User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) and its polarimeter (SCUBAPOL) at a wavelength of 850 μm. We use these measurements to determine the plane-of-sky magnetic field orientation in the cores. In L1498, we see a magnetic field across the peak of the core that lies at an offset of ∼19°± 12° to the short axis of the core. This is similar to the offsets seen in previous observations of pre-stellar cores. To the south-east of the peak, in the filamentary tail of the core, we see that the magnetic field has rotated to lie almost parallel to the long axis of the filament. We hypothesize that the field in the core may have decoupled from the field in the filament that connects the core to the rest of the cloud. We use the Chandrasekhar–Fermi (CF) method to measure the plane-of-sky field strength in the core of L1498 to be ∼10 ± 7 μG.
In L1517B, we see a more gradual turn in the field direction from the northern part of the core to the south. This appears to follow a twist in the filament in which the core is buried, with the field staying at a roughly constant ∼25°± 6° offset to the short axis of the filament, consistent with previous observations of pre-stellar cores. Hence these two clouds in an apparently similar evolutionary state, that exhibit similar masses, morphologies and densities, have very different magnetic field configurations. We again use the CF method and calculate the magnetic field strength in L1517B to be ∼30 ± 10 μG. Both cores appear to be roughly virialized. Comparison with our previous work on somewhat denser cores shows that, for the denser cores, thermal and non-thermal (including magnetic) support are approximately equal, while for the lower density cores studied here, thermal support dominates.     

MERLIN polarization observations of compact steep-spectrum sources at 5 GHz

We present polarization observations of 28 compact steep-spectrum sources made with the upgraded MERLIN at 5 GHz. With an angular resolution of 60 milliarcsec and rms noise levels of about 0.1 mJy beam⁻¹, the total intensity images reveal new details in many of these sources. A few of the more extended lobes and jets are quite highly polarized, but more than half of the components are completely unpolarized. Comparison with published data implies that this is due to Faraday depolarization, probably occurring in the surrounding medium with nB  ∼ 1 cm^−3μG. The high resolution of the present observations implies that the variations in Faraday rotation, probably due to magnetic field tangling, occur on scales of less than about 100 pc.     

Hyperfine structure and interstellar curves of growth

The effects of the hyperfine structure (HFS) that is present in some interstellar absorption lines are investigated in the case of a single absorbing cloud. If the respective total equivalent widths of two or more unresolved HFS multiplets measured in relatively low-resolution spectra are analysed specifically by means of a curve of growth, the column density N (X) and the linewidth parameter b (X) inferred for absorbing species X in the cloud will generally be in error if the HFS is ignored. The fundamental physical effect is the reduced line saturation that arises because the total column density is divided among the HFS levels of the ground atomic level, each of which generally gives rise to an HFS line at a different wavelength. For nuclear spins   I = 3/2  and   I = 5/2  , theoretical curves of growth are calculated for some of the resonance lines of some alkali atoms, for each of four illustrative choices of the parameter  α=Δ/ b   , the ratio of the HFS splitting in the ground atomic level to the linewidth. Applications of the results to interstellar absorption by Na  i , K  i and Al  iii are emphasized. HFS is, fortunately, unimportant for most interstellar lines, however. Among the 35 elements that have been detected in diffuse clouds via interstellar absorption in the ultraviolet/optical spectral region, the most abundant isotope of each of 25 of these shows no HFS, because   I = 0  or, in the relevant ground atomic level,   J = 0  .     

Circular polarimetry and the line of sight to the Becklin–Neugebauer object

The 3.1-μm absorption feature of water-ice has been observed spectroscopically in many molecular clouds and, when it has been observed spectropolarimetrically, usually a corresponding polarization feature is seen. Typically, on these occasions, and particularly for the Becklin–Neugebauer (BN) object, a distinct position angle shift between the feature and continuum is seen, which indicates both a fractionation of the icy material and a changing alignment direction along the line of sight.
Here, the dependence of circular polarimetry on fractionation along the line of sight is investigated and it is shown that the form of its spectrum, together with the sign of the position angle shift, indicates where along the line of sight the icy material lies. More specifically, a coincidence between the sign of the position angle displacement in the ice feature, measured north through east, and that of the circular polarization ice feature means that the icy grains are overlaid by bare grains. Some preliminary circular polarimetry of BN has this characteristic, and a similar situation is found in the only two other cases for which relevant observations so far exist.     

Extinction techniques and impact on dust property determination

The near-infrared (NIR) extinction power-law index (β) and its uncertainty is derived from three different techniques based on star counts, colour excess and a combination of them. We have applied these methods to Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) data to determine maps of β and NIR extinction of the small cloud IC 1396 W. The combination of star counts and colour excess results in the most reliable method to determine β. It is found that the use of the correct β map to transform colour excess values into extinction is fundamental for column density profile analysis of clouds. We describe how artificial photometric data, based on the model of stellar population synthesis of the Galaxy, can be used to estimate uncertainties and derive systematic effects of the extinction methods presented here. We find that all colour excess based extinction determination methods are subject to small but systematic offsets, which do not affect the star counting technique. These offsets occur since stars seen through a cloud do not represent the same population as stars in an extinction-free control field.     

Grain alignment in dense interstellar environments: spectropolarimetry of the 4.67-μm CO-ice feature in the field star Elias 16 (Taurus dark cloud)

We present spectropolarimetry of the solid CO feature at 4.67 μm along the line of sight to Elias 16, a field star background to the Taurus dark cloud. A clear increase in polarization is observed across the feature with the peak of polarization shifted in wavelength relative to the peak of absorption. This shows that dust grains in dense, cold environments (temperatures ∼20 K or less) can align and produce polarization by dichroic absorption. For a grain model, consisting of a core with a single mantle, the polarization feature is best modelled by a thick CO mantle, possibly including 10 per cent water-ice, with the volume ratio of mantle to bare grain of ∼5. Radiative torques could be responsible for the grain alignment provided the grain radius is at least 0.5 μm. This would require the grain cores to have a radius of at least 0.3 μm, much larger than grain sizes in the diffuse interstellar medium. Sizes of this order seem reasonable on the basis of independent evidence for grain growth by coagulation, as well as mantle formation, inside dense clouds.