Bibcode
Fissel, L. M.; Ade, Peter; Angilè, Francesco E.; Ashton, Peter; Benton, Steven J.; Devlin, Mark J.; Dober, Bradley; Fukui, Yasuo; Galitzki, Nicholas B.; Gandilo, Natalie; Klein, Jeff; Korotkov, Andrei; Li, Zhi-Yun; Moncelsi, Lorenzo; Matthews, Tristan; nakamura, fumitaka; Barth Netterfield, Calvin; Novak, Giles; Pascale, Enzo; Poidevin, F.; Savini, Giorgio; Pereira Santos, Fábio; Scott, Douglas; Shariff, Jamil; Soler, Juan Diego; Thomas, Nicholas; tucker, carole; Tucker, Gregory S.; Ward-Thompson, Derek
Bibliographical reference
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #225, #128.07
Advertised on:
1
2015
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
In order to understand the role of magnetic fields in the process of
star formation, we require detailed observations of field morphology on
scales ranging from clouds to cores. However, ground based
millimetre/submillimetre polarimetry is usually limited to small maps of
relatively dense regions. BLASTPol, the Balloon-borne Large Aperture
Sub-mm Telescope for Polarimetry, maps linear polarization at 250, 350
and 500 microns with arcminute resolution. Its high sensitivity and
resolving power allow BLASTPol to bridge the gap in spatial scales
between the polarization capabilities of Planck and ALMA.I will present
early results from the second flight of BLASTPol, focusing on our
observations of the Vela C molecular cloud, an early stage intermediate
mass star forming region (d~700 pc). With thousands of independent
measurements of magnetic field direction, this is the most detailed
sub-mm polarization map of a GMC to date. The field we observe in this
elongated cloud exhibits a coherent, large-scale ~ 90 degree bend
between its high latitude and low latitude edges. I will discuss what we
can learn about star formation in Vela C from the combination of
BLASTPol polarization maps and velocity information from molecular line
observations, and what the variation of polarization strength across the
cloud can tell us about dust grain alignment in GMCs.