The Hourglass-shaped Magnetic Fields and Dust Filaments in the HH 211 Protostellar Envelope

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Choi, Youngwoo, Kwon, Woojin, Looney, Leslie W., Stephens, Ian W., Li, Zhi-Yun, van der Tak, Floris F. S., Tobin, John J.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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_version_ 1866909816481382400
author Choi, Youngwoo
Kwon, Woojin
Looney, Leslie W.
Stephens, Ian W.
Li, Zhi-Yun
van der Tak, Floris F. S.
Tobin, John J.
author_facet Choi, Youngwoo
Kwon, Woojin
Looney, Leslie W.
Stephens, Ian W.
Li, Zhi-Yun
van der Tak, Floris F. S.
Tobin, John J.
contents Magnetic fields influence the structure and evolution of protostellar systems, thus understanding their role is essential for probing the earliest stages of star formation. We present ALMA Band 3 and 6 polarized continuum observations at $\sim$0.5$^{\prime \prime}$ resolution toward the Class 0 protostellar system HH 211. Three dust filaments ($\sim$4000 au in length) are found in the HH 211 protostellar envelope, two of which are aligned with core-scale ($\sim$10,000 au) magnetic fields detected by previous JCMT observations. This result suggests that the formation of the dust filaments may be influenced by magnetic fields. In the inner envelope ($\sim$1000 au), we detect a clear hourglass-shaped magnetic field morphology near the protostar and toroidal fields along the outflow directions. We also estimate the line-of-sight-averaged temperature and column density distributions in the inner envelope and find that the temperature is higher in the east, while the column density is enhanced in the southern and western regions. The southern dense regions of the inner envelope may trace either outflow cavity walls, due to their alignment with the outflow, or possible infalling channels in the midplane, given the close correspondence between the observed magnetic fields and the predicted infall trajectories.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_25764
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The Hourglass-shaped Magnetic Fields and Dust Filaments in the HH 211 Protostellar Envelope
Choi, Youngwoo
Kwon, Woojin
Looney, Leslie W.
Stephens, Ian W.
Li, Zhi-Yun
van der Tak, Floris F. S.
Tobin, John J.
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Magnetic fields influence the structure and evolution of protostellar systems, thus understanding their role is essential for probing the earliest stages of star formation. We present ALMA Band 3 and 6 polarized continuum observations at $\sim$0.5$^{\prime \prime}$ resolution toward the Class 0 protostellar system HH 211. Three dust filaments ($\sim$4000 au in length) are found in the HH 211 protostellar envelope, two of which are aligned with core-scale ($\sim$10,000 au) magnetic fields detected by previous JCMT observations. This result suggests that the formation of the dust filaments may be influenced by magnetic fields. In the inner envelope ($\sim$1000 au), we detect a clear hourglass-shaped magnetic field morphology near the protostar and toroidal fields along the outflow directions. We also estimate the line-of-sight-averaged temperature and column density distributions in the inner envelope and find that the temperature is higher in the east, while the column density is enhanced in the southern and western regions. The southern dense regions of the inner envelope may trace either outflow cavity walls, due to their alignment with the outflow, or possible infalling channels in the midplane, given the close correspondence between the observed magnetic fields and the predicted infall trajectories.
title The Hourglass-shaped Magnetic Fields and Dust Filaments in the HH 211 Protostellar Envelope
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.25764