We determine the magnetic field strength in the OMC 1 region of the Orion A filament via a new implementation of the Chandrasekhar-Fermi method using observations performed as part of the James Clerk ...Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) B-Fields In Star-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey with the POL-2 instrument. We combine BISTRO data with archival SCUBA-2 and HARP observations to find a plane-of-sky magnetic field strength in OMC 1 of mG, where mG represents a predominantly systematic uncertainty. We develop a new method for measuring angular dispersion, analogous to unsharp masking. We find a magnetic energy density of J m−3 in OMC 1, comparable both to the gravitational potential energy density of OMC 1 (∼10−7 J m−3) and to the energy density in the Orion BN/KL outflow (∼10−7 J m−3). We find that neither the Alfvén velocity in OMC 1 nor the velocity of the super-Alfvénic outflow ejecta is sufficiently large for the BN/KL outflow to have caused large-scale distortion of the local magnetic field in the ∼500 yr lifetime of the outflow. Hence, we propose that the hourglass field morphology in OMC 1 is caused by the distortion of a primordial cylindrically symmetric magnetic field by the gravitational fragmentation of the filament and/or the gravitational interaction of the BN/KL and S clumps. We find that OMC 1 is currently in or near magnetically supported equilibrium, and that the current large-scale morphology of the BN/KL outflow is regulated by the geometry of the magnetic field in OMC 1, and not vice versa.
Approximately 10% of active galactic nuclei exhibit relativistic jets, which are powered by the accretion of matter onto supermassive black holes. Although the measured width profiles of such jets on ...large scales agree with theories of magnetic collimation, the predicted structure on accretion disk scales at the jet launch point has not been detected. We report radio interferometry observations, at a wavelength of 1.3 millimeters, of the elliptical galaxy M87 that spatially resolve the base of the jet in this source. The derived size of 5.5 ± 0.4 Schwarzschild radii is significantly smaller than the innermost edge of a retrograde accretion disk, suggesting that the M87 jet is powered by an accretion disk in a prograde orbit around a spinning black hole.
ABSTRACT
HH 175 is an isolated Herbig–Haro object seen towards the B35 cloud in the λ Ori region. We use deep Subaru 8 m interference filter images and Spitzer images to show that HH 175 is a ...terminal shock in a large collimated outflow from the nearby embedded source IRAS 05417+0907. The body of the eastern outflow lobe is hidden by a dense ridge of gas. The western outflow breaks out of the front of the cometary-shaped B35 cloud, carrying cloud fragments along, which are optically visible due to photoionization by the massive λ Ori stars. The total extent of the bipolar outflow is 13.7 arcmin, which at the adopted distance of 415 pc corresponds to a projected dimension of 1.65 pc. The embedded source IRAS 05417+0907 is located on the flow axis approximately midway between the two lobes, and near-infrared images show it to be a multiple system of six sources, with a total luminosity of 31 L⊙. Millimeter maps in CO, 13CO, and C18O show that the B35 cloud is highly structured with multiple cores, of which the one that spawned IRAS 05417+0907 is located at the apex of B35. It is likely that the embedded source is the result of compression by an ionization-shock front driven by the λ Ori OB stars.
The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) has been the world’s most successful single-dish telescope at submillimetre wavelengths since it began operations in 1987. From the pioneering days of ...single-element photometers and mixers, through to the state-of-the-art imaging and spectroscopic cameras, the JCMT has been associated with a number of major scientific discoveries. Famous for the discovery of ‘SCUBA’ galaxies, which are responsible for a large fraction of the far-infrared background, the JCMT has pushed the sensitivity limits arguably more than any other facility in this most difficult of wavebands in which to observe. Closer to home, the first images of huge discs of cool debris around nearby stars gave us clues to the evolution of planetary systems, further evidence of the importance of studying astrophysics in the submillimetre region. Now approaching the 30th anniversary of the first observations, the telescope continues to carry out unique and innovative science. In this review article, we look back on some of the major scientific highlights from the past 30 years.
A pilot study for the SCUBA-2 'All-Sky' Survey Mackenzie, Todd; Braglia, Filiberto G.; Gibb, Andy G. ...
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,
August 2011, Letnik:
415, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
We have carried out a pilot study for the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array 2 (SCUBA-2) 'All-Sky' Survey (SASSy), a wide and shallow mapping project at 850 μm, designed to find rare objects, ...both Galactic and extragalactic. Two distinct sets of exploratory observations were undertaken and used to test the SASSy approach and data-reduction pipeline. The first was a 0°.5 × 0°.5 map around the nearby galaxy NGC 2559. The galaxy was easily detected at 156 mJy, but no other convincing sources are present in the map. Comparison with other galaxies with similar wavelength coverage indicates that NGC 2559 has relatively warm dust. The second observations cover 1 deg2 around the W5-E H ii region. As well as diffuse structure in the map, a filtering approach was able to extract 27 compact sources with signal-to-noise ratio greater than 6. By matching with data at other wavelengths we can see that the SCUBA-2 data can be used to discriminate the colder cores. Together these observations show that the SASSy project will be able to meet its original goals of detecting new bright sources which will be ideal for follow-up observations with other facilities.
We report results from very long baseline interferometric (VLBI) observations of the supermassive black hole in the Galactic center, Sgr A*, at 1.3 mm (230 GHz). The observations were performed in ...2013 March using six VLBI stations in Hawaii, California, Arizona, and Chile. Compared to earlier observations, the addition of the APEX telescope in Chile almost doubles the longest baseline length in the array, provides additional uv coverage in the N-S direction, and leads to a spatial resolution of ∼30 as (∼3 Schwarzschild radii) for Sgr A*. The source is detected even at the longest baselines with visibility amplitudes of ∼4%-13% of the total flux density. We argue that such flux densities cannot result from interstellar refractive scattering alone, but indicate the presence of compact intrinsic source structure on scales of ∼3 Schwarzschild radii. The measured nonzero closure phases rule out point-symmetric emission. We discuss our results in the context of simple geometric models that capture the basic characteristics and brightness distributions of disk- and jet-dominated models and show that both can reproduce the observed data. Common to these models are the brightness asymmetry, the orientation, and characteristic sizes, which are comparable to the expected size of the black hole shadow. Future 1.3 mm VLBI observations with an expanded array and better sensitivity will allow more detailed imaging of the horizon-scale structure and bear the potential for a deep insight into the physical processes at the black hole boundary.
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