Tracing the Magnetic Field in Molecular Clouds

Abstract

We discuss how the combination of polarimetry and ion-to-neutral molecular line width ratio measurements permits the determination of the orientation of the magnetic field in the weakly ionized parts of molecular clouds. Polarimetry measurements give the field orientation in the plane of the sky, and the ion-to-neutral molecular line width ratio determines the angle between the magnetic field and the line of sight. We present the results obtained with this technique on the M17 and Orion A star-forming regions using Hertz 350 μm polarimetry maps and HCO^(+)-to-HCN molecular line width ratios to provide the first view of the spatial orientation of the magnetic field these molecular clouds.

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