2010/11/02 by Felipe de O. Alves, F. O. Alves, Josep M. Girart +5 · 18 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Atmospheric Ozone and Climate #Component (thermodynamics) #Core (optical fiber) #Field (mathematics) #Magnetic field #Optics #Outflow #Physics #Sky #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph.GA #astro-ph.SR
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/726/2/63
published in The Astrophysical Journal 726(2), 63 (IOP Publishing) · 48 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal
arxiv created 2010/11/02 · openalex publication_date 2010/12/15 · arxiv updated 2015/05/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/08
We used the Submillimeter Array to observe the thermal polarized dust emission from the protostellar source NGC 2024 FIR 5. The polarized emission outlines a partial hourglass morphology for the plane-of-sky component of the core magnetic field. Our data are consistent with previous BIMA maps, and the overall magnetic field geometries obtained with both instruments are similar. We resolve the main core into two components, FIR 5A and FIR 5B. A possible explanation for the asymmetrical field lies in depolarization effects due to the lack of internal heating from the FIR 5B source, which may be in a prestellar evolutionary state. The field strength was estimated to be 2.2 mG, in agreement with previous BIMA data. We discuss the influence of a nearby H ii region over the field lines at scales of ∼0.01 pc. Although the hot component is probably compressing the molecular gas where the dust core is embedded, it is unlikely that the radiation pressure exceeds the magnetic tension. Finally, a complex outflow morphology is observed in CO (3 → 2) maps. Unlike previous maps, several features associated with dust condensations other than FIR 5 are detected.