AAS 201st Meeting, January, 2003
Session 93. Star Formation II
Poster, Wednesday, January 8, 2003, 9:20am-6:30pm, Exhibit Hall AB

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[93.02] Examining the Ion and Neutral Linewidths as a Probe of the Magnetic Field Structure in DR21(OH)

S.-P. Lai, T. Velusamy, W. D. Langer (Jet Propulsion Lab, Caltech)

Houde et al. (2000, ApJ, 536, 857) pointed out that under average interstellar field strengths the cyclotron interaction between ions and magnetic fields is strong enough to narrow the linewidth and suppress the line wings in the ion spectra. HCN and HCO+ observations with the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory display evidence of these predicted features. However, the angular resolution of the single dish (10m) does not resolve the spatial distribution of HCN and HCO+ emission sufficiently to guarantee that they are spatially coexistant. We have obtained high-spatial resolution spectral line images of HCN, HCO+, H13CN, and H13CO+ in DR21(OH) with the millimeter array of the Owens Valley Radio Observatory. Here we analyze the linewidths for the spatially resolved HCN and HCO+ lines and apply Houde et al.'s method to determine the magnetic field in the the regions where the two molecules coexist.

This research was conducted at JPL, Caltech with support from NASA, while SPL held a National Research Council Research Associateship at JPL.


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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34, #4
© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.