Submillimetre observations of the two-component magnetic field in M82

Kate Pattle; Walter K. Gear; Matt Redman; Matthew W. L. Smith; Jane Greaves

doi:10.1093/mnras/stab1300

Submillimetre observations of the two-component magnetic field in M82

Astrophysics of Galaxies 2021-05-26 v1

Authors: Kate Pattle , Walter K. Gear , Matt Redman , Matthew W. L. Smith , Jane Greaves

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Abstract

We observed the starburst galaxy M82 in 850 $\mu$ m polarised light with the POL-2 polarimeter on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). We interpret our observed polarisation geometry as tracing a two-component magnetic field: a poloidal component aligned with the galactic 'superwind', extending to a height $\sim 350$ pc above and below the central bar; and a spiral-arm-aligned, or possibly toroidal, component in the plane of the galaxy, which dominates the 850 $\mu$ m polarised light distribution at galactocentric radii $\gtrsim 2$ kpc. Comparison of our results with recent HAWC+ measurements of the field in the dust entrained by the M82 superwind suggests that the superwind breaks out from the central starburst at $\sim 350$ pc above the plane of the galaxy.

Keywords

starburst galaxy m82 polarized light magnetic field superwind jcmt hawc+

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@article{arxiv.2105.01989,
  title  = {Submillimetre observations of the two-component magnetic field in M82},
  author = {Kate Pattle and Walter K. Gear and Matt Redman and Matthew W. L. Smith and Jane Greaves},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2105.01989},
  year   = {2021}
}

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5 pages, 5 figures, accepted by Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS)

Submillimetre observations of the two-component magnetic field in M82

Abstract

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