Related papers: Polarized thermal emission from dust in a galaxy a…
Magnetic fields are widely observed in various astronomical contexts, yet much remains unknown about their significance across different systems and cosmic epochs. Our current knowledge of the evolution of magnetic fields is limited by…
Interstellar polarization at far-infrared through millimeter wavelengths (0.1 - 1 mm) is primarily due to thermal emission from dust grains aligned with magnetic fields. This mechanism has led to studies of magnetic fields in a variety of…
Galactic dust emission is polarized at unexpectedly high levels, as revealed by Planck. The origin of the observed $\simeq 20\%$ polarization fractions can be identified by characterizing the properties of optical starlight polarization in…
Understanding the physics of how stars form is a highly-prioritized goal of modern Astrophysics, in part because star formation is linked to both galactic dynamics on large scales and to the formation of planets on small scales. It is…
(Aims) In this work, we predict the far-infrared polarisation signal emitted by non-spherical dust grains in nearby galaxies. We determine the angular resolution and sensitivity required to study the magnetic field configuration in these…
Star formation occurs in dark molecular regions where the number density of hydrogen nuclei, nH, exceeds 10^4 cc and the fractional ionization is 10^-7 or less. Dust grains with sizes ranging up to tenths of microns and perhaps down to tens…
We present a polarimetric map of a 20'x20' area toward the Galactic center. The polarization of point sources has been measured in the J, H, and Ks bands using the near-infrared polarimetric camera SIRPOL on the 1.4 m telescope IRSF. One…
Massive stars ($M > 8$ \msun) typically form in parsec-scale molecular clumps that collapse and fragment, leading to the birth of a cluster of stellar objects. We investigate the role of magnetic fields in this process through dust…
We report the detection of polarized emission in the vicinity of the Galactic center for 158 positions within eight different pointings of the Hertz polarimeter operating on the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory. These pointings include…
Due to dust grain alignment with magnetic fields, dust polarization observations of far-infrared emission from cold molecular clouds are often used to trace magnetic fields, allowing a probe of the effects of magnetic fields on the star…
We present a statistical analysis of the interstellar medium (ISM) polarization from the largest compilation available of starlight data, which comprises ~ 5500 stars. The measured correlation between the mean polarization degree and…
Several sets of data show that small interstellar grains captured in interstellar magnetic fields draped over the heliosphere appear to polarize the light of nearby stars. The maximum polarization direction is offset in ecliptic longitude…
Polarized far-infrared and submillimeter emission is calculated for models of nonspherical dust grains that are constrained to reproduce the observed wavelength-dependent extinction and polarization of starlight. For emission from regions…
Galaxy-scale outflows are of critical importance for galaxy formation and evolution. Dust grains are the main sites for the formation of molecules needed for star formation but are also important for the acceleration of outflows that can…
Near-infrared polarimetry of point sources reveals the presence of a toroidal magnetic field in the central 20' x 20' region of our Galaxy. Comparing the Stokes parameters between high extinction stars and relatively low extinction ones, we…
The global star formation rate in high redshift galaxies, based on optical surveys, shows a strong peak at a redshift of z=1.5, which implies that we have already seen most of the formation. High redshift galaxies may, however, emit most of…
We present a polarisation map of the warm dust emission from the minispiral in the central parsec of the Galactic centre. The observations were made at a wavelength of 12.5 microns with CanariCam mounted on the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio…
Interstellar dust grains are often aligned. If the grain alignment direction varies along the line of sight, the thermal emission becomes circularly-polarized. In the diffuse interstellar medium, the circular polarization at far-infrared…
A recently discovered filament of polarized starlight that traces a coherent magnetic field is shown to have several properties that are consistent with an origin in the outer heliosheath of the heliosphere: (1) The magnetic field that…
In protoplanetary disks around young stars, magnetic fields play an important role for disk evolution and planet formation. Polarized thermal emission from magnetically aligned grains is one of the reliable methods to trace magnetic fields.…