Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2007-07-18
Astrophys.J.695:1362-1369,2009
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
revised, accepted version; to appear in The Astrophysical Journal; 20 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables
Scientific paper
10.1088/0004-637X/695/2/1362
One can estimate the characteristic magnetic field strength in GMCs by comparing submillimeter polarimetric observations of these sources with simulated polarization maps developed using a range of different values for the assumed field strength. The point of comparison is the degree of order in the distribution of polarization position angles. In a recent paper by H. Li and collaborators, such a comparison was carried out using SPARO observations of two GMCs, and employing simulations by E. Ostriker and collaborators. Here we reexamine this same question, using the same data set and the same simulations, but using an approach that differs in several respects. The most important difference is that we incorporate new, higher angular resolution observations for one of the clouds, obtained using the Hertz polarimeter. We conclude that the agreement between observations and simulations is best when the total magnetic energy (including both uniform and fluctuating field components) is at least as large as the turbulent kinetic energy.
Dotson Jessie L.
Li Handong
Novak Giles
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