The relationship between the infrared polarization of protostellar sources and nearby interstellar polarization.
Abstract
Infrared polarization data for 31 protostellar sources buried in compact H II regions and molecular clouds have been compared with the interstellar polarization in the immediate vicinity of the sources, as determined from field stars. A strong tendency for the infrared and interstellar polarization directions to be parallel is found. Twenty sources (65% of the sample) have measured infrared position angles of polarization lying within 30 deg of the average local interstellar polarization direction. It is concluded that these data provide strong empirical evidence that the galactic magnetic field has played an important role in the evolution of molecular clouds.
- Publication:
-
The Astronomical Journal
- Pub Date:
- September 1979
- DOI:
- 10.1086/112548
- Bibcode:
- 1979AJ.....84.1339D
- Keywords:
-
- Infrared Astronomy;
- Interstellar Space;
- Optical Polarization;
- Polarization Characteristics;
- Protostars;
- H Ii Regions;
- Infrared Radiation;
- Interstellar Magnetic Fields;
- Stellar Evolution;
- Astrophysics;
- Galactic Magnetic Field:Molecular Clouds;
- Infrared Polarization:Protostellar Clouds;
- Infrared Sources:Polarization;
- Nearby Stars:Polarization