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Session 66 - Young Clusters, High-Mass YSOs and Their Environment.
Oral session, Tuesday, January 16
Salon del Rey Central, Hilton
To understand the detailed structure of four representative high-mass star forming regions, we have performed a comparative analysis of magnetic field structure; mass and velocity structure; and local features such as HII regions, outflows, and infrared sources. This work considers areas 5-15\arcmin on a side in Orion A (BN/KL and Bar regions), NGC 2024, W3 Main, and M17. Primary data include ^13CO J=1-0 maps with 50\arcsec spatial resolution and 0.1 km\:s^-1 velocity resolution as well as 100 micron dust emission polarization maps with 35\arcsec resolution (provided by J.L. Dotson, C.D. Dowell, D. Schleuning, and R.H. Hildebrand). These recently obtained emission polarization maps represent reliable probes of the projected magnetic field direction in dense clouds. We isolate velocity components in the spectra and then go on to analyze patterns in linewidth, component velocity, column density, polarization percentage, polarization direction, and dispersion in polarization position angle. Our analysis also makes use of field strength measurements and other data in the literature to form a coherent physical picture of what is happening in each source. By comparing the relative importance of magnetic, kinetic, and gravitational energies as well as the dynamical significance of such energetic features as HII regions and outflows, we evaluate the role of the magnetic field in each region.
