[Previous] | [Session 18] | [Next]
S.-P. Lai, J. M. Girart, R. M. Crutcher (University of Illinois), R. Rao (University of Chicago)
Magnetic fields are thought to play a significant role in all stages of star formation, however there are few observations that measure magnetic fields at the relevant physical scale for the star formation process. Using the polarimeter on the BIMA interferometer, we have conducted the largest survey of linearly polarized dust emission in star-forming regions at 1.3-mm wavelength. Our observations achieve high resolutions up to 2 arcsec, which is more than 5 times better than most previous observations with single-dish telescopes. The improvement in angular resolution enables us to investigate detailed magnetic field structures at the scale of protostellar cores, and then assess the relative importance of the ordered field and the turbulent field, which provides an opportunity to test theoretical models and simulations of star formation. Results from several molecular clouds will be discussed.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: slai@astro.uiuc.edu