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Abstract

Researcher: Colin Sullivan Title: Characterizing the Magnetic Field Properties of Nearby Molecular Clouds Research Focus: Molecular Clouds Organization: National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) School: University of Virginia Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Abstract: Characterizing the Magnetic Field Properties of Nearby Molecular Clouds Laura Fissel, PhD, Patrick King, PhD, Juan Soler Diego, PhD, Zhi-Yun Li, PhD, Che-Yu Chen, PhD Of all the factors that influence star formation, magnetic fields are perhaps the least understood. This leaves a crucial gap in our ability to determine how, when, and how often stars will form. In this poster, we examine the magnetic field properties of nearby molecular clouds. We find evidence to support previous claims that the Giant Molecular Cloud, Vela C is highly inclined with respect to the plane of the sky. While investigating the relations between our clouds' magnetic field properties (Column Density (N), Polarization Fraction (p), Dispersion in Polarization Angles (S)) and previous studies of the change in relative orientation of cloud structure from parallel to perpendicular to the magnetic field, a distinctly positive correlation was discovered between the median S values and the slopes of the change in the relative orientation parameter. This result was unexpected, but can be explained by our understanding of magnetic field behavior and its effects on the observed dispersion. By investigating these relationships, we were able to lay the informational groundwork to estimate the magnetic field strength and orientation for each of the ten clouds. This in turn will be the instrumental in future studies as they further our understanding of the role magnetic fields play in the formation of stars.