Magnetic fields in dense interstellar clouds

1981 ◽  
Vol 303 (1480) ◽  
pp. 581-587 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Zeeman Effect ◽  
Neutral Hydrogen ◽  
Magnetic Field Direction ◽  
Strong Indication ◽  
Interstellar Gas ◽  
Interstellar Clouds ◽  
The Magnetic Field ◽  
Maser Sources

Evidence is presented that shows that magnetic fields pervade the entire interstellar medium including interstellar gas clouds of both low and high density. The magnetic field in the ‘seed’ gas from which the denser clouds form is 0.2-0.3 nT (1T — 10 4 G). Zeeman effect measurements of neutral hydrogen show that stronger fields occur in denser clouds. These data, taken with the microtesla fields found in OH maser sources, indicate that magnetic flux is conserved during gravitational collapse of interstellar clouds from densities of ca. 5 to ca. 10 7 cm -3 . Magnetic fields appear to play a major role in the formation of dense interstellar clouds. Furthermore there is a strong indication that the magnetic field direction is preserved during cloud collapse.

scholarly journals The magnetic field of the Galaxy determined from the zeeman splitting of the 21-cm hydrogen line

1964 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 134-139
Author(s):  
R. D. Davies
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Zeeman Effect ◽  
Mean Field ◽  
Neutral Hydrogen ◽  
Zeeman Splitting ◽  
Longitudinal Component ◽  
Frequency Separation ◽  
Intensity Difference ◽  
Interstellar Clouds ◽  
The Magnetic Field

The Zeeman effect can be used to measure directly the longitudinal component of the magnetic field in interstellar neutral hydrogen clouds. The frequency separation between the two circularly polarized components is 28 c/s for 10–5 G and can be inferred from measurements of the intensity difference between left- and right-hand circular polarization as a function of frequency. Earlier experiments at Jodrell Bank showed that the mean field in the interstellar medium was less than 10–5 G (Davies et al. 1960). Recent work using more sensitive techniques has provided a positive measurement of a weak general magnetic field and of fields of varying intensity in different interstellar clouds.

scholarly journals Magnetic fields in star-forming systems – II: Examining dust polarization, the Zeeman effect, and the Faraday rotation measure as magnetic field tracers

2020 ◽  
Vol 500 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-176
Author(s):  
Stefan Reissl ◽  
Amelia M Stutz ◽  
Ralf S Klessen ◽  
Daniel Seifried ◽  
Stefanie Walch
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Faraday Rotation ◽  
Zeeman Effect ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
Line Of Sight ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Magnetic Field Direction ◽  
Rotation Measure ◽  
The Magnetic Field

ABSTRACT The degree to which the formation and evolution of clouds and filaments in the interstellar medium is regulated by magnetic fields remains an open question. Yet the fundamental properties of the fields (strength and 3D morphology) are not readily observable. We investigate the potential for recovering magnetic field information from dust polarization, the Zeeman effect, and the Faraday rotation measure (RM) in a SILCC-Zoom magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) filament simulation. The object is analysed at the onset of star formation and it is characterized by a line-mass of about $\mathrm{\left(M/L\right) \sim 63\ \mathrm{M}_{\odot }\ pc^{-1}}$ out to a radius of $1\,$ pc and a kinked 3D magnetic field morphology. We generate synthetic observations via polaris radiative transfer (RT) post-processing and compare with an analytical model of helical or kinked field morphology to help interpreting the inferred observational signatures. We show that the tracer signals originate close to the filament spine. We find regions along the filament where the angular dependence with the line of sight (LOS) is the dominant factor and dust polarization may trace the underlying kinked magnetic field morphology. We also find that reversals in the recovered magnetic field direction are not unambiguously associated to any particular morphology. Other physical parameters, such as density or temperature, are relevant and sometimes dominant compared to the magnetic field structure in modulating the observed signal. We demonstrate that the Zeeman effect and the RM recover the line-of-sight magnetic field strength to within a factor 2.1–3.4. We conclude that the magnetic field morphology may not be unambiguously determined in low-mass systems by observations of dust polarization, Zeeman effect, or RM, whereas the field strengths can be reliably recovered.

scholarly journals An 84-μG Magnetic Field in a Galaxy at Z=0.692?

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (S254) ◽  
pp. 95-96
Author(s):  
Arthur M. Wolfe ◽  
Regina A. Jorgenson ◽  
Timothy Robishaw ◽  
Carl Heiles ◽  
Jason X. Prochaska
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Faraday Rotation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Dynamo Model ◽  
Magnetic Field Generation ◽  
Interstellar Gas ◽  
Splitting Technique ◽  
Average Value ◽  
The Magnetic Field

AbstractThe magnetic field pervading our Galaxy is a crucial constituent of the interstellar medium: it mediates the dynamics of interstellar clouds, the energy density of cosmic rays, and the formation of stars (Beck 2005). The field associated with ionized interstellar gas has been determined through observations of pulsars in our Galaxy. Radio-frequency measurements of pulse dispersion and the rotation of the plane of linear polarization, i.e., Faraday rotation, yield an average value B ≈ 3 μG (Han et al. 2006). The possible detection of Faraday rotation of linearly polarized photons emitted by high-redshift quasars (Kronberg et al. 2008) suggests similar magnetic fields are present in foreground galaxies with redshifts z > 1. As Faraday rotation alone, however, determines neither the magnitude nor the redshift of the magnetic field, the strength of galactic magnetic fields at redshifts z > 0 remains uncertain.Here we report a measurement of a magnetic field of B ≈ 84 μG in a galaxy at z =0.692, using the same Zeeman-splitting technique that revealed an average value of B = 6 μG in the neutral interstellar gas of our Galaxy (Heiles et al. 2004). This is unexpected, as the leading theory of magnetic field generation, the mean-field dynamo model, predicts large-scale magnetic fields to be weaker in the past, rather than stronger (Parker 1970).The full text of this paper was published in Nature (Wolfe et al. 2008).

scholarly journals Observability of the Magnetic Field in Molecular Clouds

1990 ◽  
Vol 140 ◽  
pp. 304-304
Author(s):  
N. Bel ◽  
B. Leroy
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Molecular Clouds ◽  
Diatomic Molecules ◽  
Zeeman Effect ◽  
Interstellar Clouds ◽  
The Magnetic Field

We have done detailed calculations of the Zeeman effect in the dozen diatomic molecules identified in interstellar clouds.

scholarly journals 19. Astrophysical applications of selective magnetic rotation

1958 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 166-168
Author(s):  
Y. öhman
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Zeeman Effect ◽  
Emission Lines ◽  
Absorption Lines ◽  
Magnetic Rotation ◽  
Double Refraction ◽  
Line Absorption ◽  
Complicated Process ◽  
The Magnetic Field

When measuring the magnetic fields of sunspots the astronomer assumes that the magnetic field revealed by the inverse Zeeman effect is the same as if the splitting were produced by emission lines instead of absorption lines. No doubt this is in general a very fair approximation, but we have reason to remember sometimes that line absorption in the presence of magnetic fields is a very complicated process. In the immediate neighbourhood of absorption lines effects of magnetic rotation of the plane of polarization and magnetic double refraction may appear in the spectrum.

scholarly journals Magnetic fields of rapidly oscillating Ap stars

1993 ◽  
Vol 139 ◽  
pp. 132-132
Author(s):  
G. Mathys
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Zeeman Effect ◽  
Rotation Frequency ◽  
Spectral Lines ◽  
Driving Mechanism ◽  
Line Splitting ◽  
Ap Stars ◽  
The Magnetic Field

Magnetic field appears to play a major role in the pulsations of rapidly oscillating Ap (roAp) stars. Understanding of the behaviour of these objects thus requires knowledge of their magnetic field. Such knowledge is in particular essential to interpret the modulation of the amplitude of the photometric variations (with a frequency very close to the rotation frequency of the star) and to understand the driving mechanism of the pulsation. Therefore, a systematic programme of study of the magnetic field of roAp stars has been started, of which preliminary (and still very partial) results are presented here.Magnetic fields of Ap stars can be diagnosed from the Zeeman effect that they induced in spectral lines either from the observation of line-splitting in high-resolution unpolarized spectra (which only occurs in favourable circumstances) or from the observation of circular polarization of the lines in medium- to high-resolution spectra.

scholarly journals Mid-infrared Observations of Magnetic Fields in the Disks of Bi-Polar Outflow Sources

1997 ◽  
Vol 163 ◽  
pp. 799-800
Author(s):  
Craig H. Smith ◽  
Christopher M. Wright ◽  
David K. Aitken ◽  
Patrick F. Roche
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Field Configuration ◽  
Field Direction ◽  
Magnetic Field Direction ◽  
Poloidal Field ◽  
Mid Infrared ◽  
Infrared Observations ◽  
Polarization Mechanism ◽  
The Magnetic Field

AbstractWe present the results from mid-infrared spectro-polarimetric observations of a number of bi-polar outflow sources. The specto-polarimetric data provides information on the polarization mechanism and the magnetic field direction. The field direction in the disks of the observed sources is most often normal to the ambient field direction and lies in the plane of the disk, indicating a toroidal rather than poloidal field configuration.

scholarly journals Magnetic clouds' structure in the magnetosheath as observed by Cluster and Geotail: four case studies

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (10) ◽  
pp. 1247-1261 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Turc ◽  
D. Fontaine ◽  
P. Savoini ◽  
E. K. J. Kilpua
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Bow Shock ◽  
Field Direction ◽  
Magnetic Clouds ◽  
Magnetic Field Direction ◽  
Field Orientation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Magnetic Field

Abstract. Magnetic clouds (MCs) are large-scale magnetic flux ropes ejected from the Sun into the interplanetary space. They play a central role in solar–terrestrial relations as they can efficiently drive magnetic activity in the near-Earth environment. Their impact on the Earth's magnetosphere is often attributed to the presence of southward magnetic fields inside the MC, as observed in the upstream solar wind. However, when they arrive in the vicinity of the Earth, MCs first encounter the bow shock, which is expected to modify their properties, including their magnetic field strength and direction. If these changes are significant, they can in turn affect the interaction of the MC with the magnetosphere. In this paper, we use data from the Cluster and Geotail spacecraft inside the magnetosheath and from the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) upstream of the Earth's environment to investigate the impact of the bow shock's crossing on the magnetic structure of MCs. Through four example MCs, we show that the evolution of the MC's structure from the solar wind to the magnetosheath differs largely from one event to another. The smooth rotation of the MC can either be preserved inside the magnetosheath, be modified, i.e. the magnetic field still rotates slowly but at different angles, or even disappear. The alteration of the magnetic field orientation across the bow shock can vary with time during the MC's passage and with the location inside the magnetosheath. We examine the conditions encountered at the bow shock from direct observations, when Cluster or Geotail cross it, or indirectly by applying a magnetosheath model. We obtain a good agreement between the observed and modelled magnetic field direction and shock configuration, which varies from quasi-perpendicular to quasi-parallel in our study. We find that the variations in the angle between the magnetic fields in the solar wind and in the magnetosheath are anti-correlated with the variations in the shock obliquity. When the shock is in a quasi-parallel regime, the magnetic field direction varies significantly from the solar wind to the magnetosheath. In such cases, the magnetic field reaching the magnetopause cannot be approximated by the upstream magnetic field. Therefore, it is important to take into account the conditions at the bow shock when estimating the impact of an MC with the Earth's environment because these conditions are crucial in determining the magnetosheath magnetic field, which then interacts with the magnetosphere.

scholarly journals Magnetic Fields in OH Maser Clouds

1974 ◽  
Vol 60 ◽  
pp. 275-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. D. Davies
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Angular Momentum ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Magnetic Flux ◽  
Field Data ◽  
Zeeman Splitting ◽  
Galactic Rotation ◽  
Magnetic Field Data ◽  
The Magnetic Field ◽  
Maser Sources

Observations of Class I OH maser sources show a range of features which are predicted on the basis of Zeeman splitting in a source magnetic field. Magnetic field strengths of 2 to 7 mG are derived for eight OH maser sources. The fields in all the clouds are directed in the sense of galactic rotation. A model of W3 OH is proposed which incorporates the magnetic field data. It is shown that no large amount of magnetic flux or angular momentum has been lost since the condensation from the interstellar medium began.

Crystallographic orientation of primary and eutectic phases in a hypoeutectic Mn–Sb alloy induced by solidification in high magnetic fields

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (5) ◽  
pp. 945-950 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shulin Dong ◽  
Tie Liu ◽  
Meng Dong ◽  
Shuang Wang ◽  
Wen Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Crystallographic Orientation ◽  
Field Direction ◽  
High Magnetic Fields ◽  
Magnetic Field Direction ◽  
Eutectic Alloys ◽  
Random Orientation ◽  
Binary Eutectic ◽  
The Magnetic Field

This paper investigates how applying high magnetic fields influences the crystallographic orientations of the primary and eutectic phases, and their relationship, in a binary eutectic alloy. At 0 T, the primary MnSb phase in hypoeutectic Mn–Sb showed a random orientation, but at 3, 6, 9 and 11.5 T, its c axis was perpendicular to the magnetic field direction. In all cases, the eutectic MnSb phases showed the same orientations as their neighboring primary MnSb phase, on which they nucleated and grew. With high magnetic fields, the c axes of the eutectic and primary MnSb phases were oriented perpendicular to the magnetic field direction. The results show that applying a high magnetic field during solidification is a way of controlling the crystallographic orientation of both the primary and the eutectic phases in eutectic alloys.

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