Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Feb 1979
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1979apj...228..159m&link_type=abstract
Astrophysical Journal, Part 1, vol. 228, Feb. 15, 1979, p. 159-162.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
30
Galactic Rotation, Gravitational Effects, Interstellar Magnetic Fields, Interstellar Matter, Magnetohydrodynamic Flow, Plasma Clouds, Ambipolar Diffusion, Angular Momentum, Magnetic Effects
Scientific paper
The efficiency of magnetic braking of a rotating oblate cloud under the combined effects of self-gravity and pressure forces is studied using a simplified approximate cloud model. A characteristic time is determined for the loss of angular momentum by a dense interstellar cloud flattened along the common direction of the magnetic-field and angular-momentum vectors. By properly scaling the magnetic field with the gas density, it is found that the characteristic time depends only on the present cloud temperature and the magnetic-field strength at the time of cloud formation. Application of the result to dark and molecular clouds indicates that a typical dark cloud loses its angular momentum in a characteristic time of 820,000 yr, while a molecular cloud (temperature of approximately 50 K) as a whole requires 1.3 million yr. The characteristic time is compared with the ambipolar diffusion time, and a 'critical' density is obtained above which a dense cloud is expected to exhibit an angular velocity significantly larger than that due to Galactic rotation alone.
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