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Relative Alignment Between the Magnetic Field and Molecular Gas Structure in the Vela C Giant Molecular Cloud using Low and High Density Tracers

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arxiv 1804.08979 v2 pith:SLS2JNTK submitted 2018-04-24 astro-ph.GA

classification astro-ph.GA
keywords densityfieldmagneticmolecularvelacloudorientationmaps
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abstract

We compare the magnetic field orientation for the young giant molecular cloud Vela C inferred from 500-$\mu$m polarization maps made with the BLASTPol balloon-borne polarimeter to the orientation of structures in the integrated line emission maps from Mopra observations. Averaging over the entire cloud we find that elongated structures in integrated line-intensity, or zeroth-moment maps, for low density tracers such as $^{12}$CO and $^{13}$CO $J$ $\rightarrow$ 1 - 0 are statistically more likely to align parallel to the magnetic field, while intermediate or high density tracers show (on average) a tendency for alignment perpendicular to the magnetic field. This observation agrees with previous studies of the change in relative orientation with column density in Vela C, and supports a model where the magnetic field is strong enough to have influenced the formation of dense gas structures within Vela C. The transition from parallel to no preferred/perpendicular orientation appears to happen between the densities traced by $^{13}$CO and by C$^{18}$O $J$ $\rightarrow$ 1 - 0. Using RADEX radiative transfer models to estimate the characteristic number density traced by each molecular line we find that the transition occurs at a molecular hydrogen number density of approximately $10^3$ cm$^{-3}$. We also see that the Centre-Ridge (the highest column density and most active star-forming region within Vela C) appears to have a transition at a lower number density, suggesting that this may depend on the evolutionary state of the cloud.

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Cited by 6 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. Full citation record

  1. CO Structures with Narrow Lines in Nearby Quiescent Regions

    astro-ph.GA 2026-08 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

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  2. ALMA observations of Magnetic Fields in the Massive Star-forming Region IRAS 18360-0537

    astro-ph.GA 2026-07 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    An ordered hourglass B-field in IRAS 18360-0537 lies perpendicular to the outflow/rotation axis and is reshaped by rotation, outflow cavity walls, and accretion rather than pure magnetic regulation.

  3. Characterising magnetic fields at the onset of star cluster formation: From giant molecular clouds to infrared dark clumps

    astro-ph.GA 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 5.0 of 10

    Polarization observations reveal scale-dependent differences in magnetic field morphology between molecular clouds and clumps, a velocity-dispersion correlation, and unreliable field-strength estimates that contradict...

  4. Statistical analysis of the relative orientations between filaments and magnetic fields using Herschel and Planck data in star-forming regions

    astro-ph.GA 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 5.0 of 10

    Low-column-density filaments align parallel to magnetic fields while high-column-density wide filaments align perpendicular, with transition at roughly 0.8-8 x 10^21 cm^-2; projection effects analyzed statistically.

  5. Evolution of compressed clouds formed by filament coalescence. I. Oblique collisions

    astro-ph.GA 2026-05 unverdicted novelty 5.0 of 10

    Oblique filament collisions lead to gravitational collapse of the compressed cloud when post-collision |gravitational energy| exceeds kinetic plus thermal plus magnetic energies, with lower angles and lower velocities...

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    astro-ph.GA 2026-05 unverdicted novelty 5.0 of 10

    Observational study of 100 LMC GMCs finds median 13CO(2-1)/12CO(2-1) line ratio of 0.078, nearly linear with luminosity, and higher in clouds hosting IR-bright young stellar objects.

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