Magnetic Fields in the Bones of the Milky Way
Fuente:
arXiv
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1866912633222856704 |
|---|---|
| author | Stephens, Ian W. Coude, Simon Myers, Philip C. Zucker, Catherine Jackson, James M. Andersson, B-G Smith, Rowan Soam, Archana Sanhueza, Patricio Hogge, Taylor Smith, Howard A. Novak, Giles Sadavoy, Sarah Pillai, Thushara Li, Zhi-Yun Looney, Leslie W. Sugitani, Koji Guzman, Andres E. Goodman, Alyssa Kusune, Takayoshi Zhang, Miaomiao Karnath, Nicole Marin, Jessy |
| author_facet | Stephens, Ian W. Coude, Simon Myers, Philip C. Zucker, Catherine Jackson, James M. Andersson, B-G Smith, Rowan Soam, Archana Sanhueza, Patricio Hogge, Taylor Smith, Howard A. Novak, Giles Sadavoy, Sarah Pillai, Thushara Li, Zhi-Yun Looney, Leslie W. Sugitani, Koji Guzman, Andres E. Goodman, Alyssa Kusune, Takayoshi Zhang, Miaomiao Karnath, Nicole Marin, Jessy |
| contents | Stars primarily form in galactic spiral arms within dense, filamentary molecular clouds. The largest and most elongated of these molecular clouds are referred to as ``bones," which are massive, velocity-coherent filaments (lengths ~20 to >100 pc, widths ~1-2 pc) that run approximately parallel and in close proximity to the Galactic plane. While these bones have been generally well characterized, the importance and structure of their magnetic fields (B-fields) remain largely unconstrained. Through the SOFIA Legacy program FIELDMAPS, we mapped the B-fields of 10 bones in the Milky Way. We found that their B-fields are varied, with no single preferred alignment along the entire spine of the bones. At higher column densities, the spines of the bones are more likely to align perpendicularly to the B-fields, although this is not ubiquitous, and the alignment shows no strong correlation with the locations of identified young stellar objects. We estimated the B-field strengths across the bones and found them to be ~30-150 $μ$G at pc scales. Despite the generally low virial parameters, the B-fields are strong compared to the local gravity, suggesting that B-fields play a significant role in resisting global collapse. Moreover, the B-fields may slow and guide gas flow during dissipation. Recent star formation within the bones may be due to high-density pockets at smaller scales, which could have formed before or simultaneously with the bones. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_05933 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Magnetic Fields in the Bones of the Milky Way Stephens, Ian W. Coude, Simon Myers, Philip C. Zucker, Catherine Jackson, James M. Andersson, B-G Smith, Rowan Soam, Archana Sanhueza, Patricio Hogge, Taylor Smith, Howard A. Novak, Giles Sadavoy, Sarah Pillai, Thushara Li, Zhi-Yun Looney, Leslie W. Sugitani, Koji Guzman, Andres E. Goodman, Alyssa Kusune, Takayoshi Zhang, Miaomiao Karnath, Nicole Marin, Jessy Astrophysics of Galaxies Solar and Stellar Astrophysics Stars primarily form in galactic spiral arms within dense, filamentary molecular clouds. The largest and most elongated of these molecular clouds are referred to as ``bones," which are massive, velocity-coherent filaments (lengths ~20 to >100 pc, widths ~1-2 pc) that run approximately parallel and in close proximity to the Galactic plane. While these bones have been generally well characterized, the importance and structure of their magnetic fields (B-fields) remain largely unconstrained. Through the SOFIA Legacy program FIELDMAPS, we mapped the B-fields of 10 bones in the Milky Way. We found that their B-fields are varied, with no single preferred alignment along the entire spine of the bones. At higher column densities, the spines of the bones are more likely to align perpendicularly to the B-fields, although this is not ubiquitous, and the alignment shows no strong correlation with the locations of identified young stellar objects. We estimated the B-field strengths across the bones and found them to be ~30-150 $μ$G at pc scales. Despite the generally low virial parameters, the B-fields are strong compared to the local gravity, suggesting that B-fields play a significant role in resisting global collapse. Moreover, the B-fields may slow and guide gas flow during dissipation. Recent star formation within the bones may be due to high-density pockets at smaller scales, which could have formed before or simultaneously with the bones. |
| title | Magnetic Fields in the Bones of the Milky Way |
| topic | Astrophysics of Galaxies Solar and Stellar Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.05933 |