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MAGMO: Mapping the Galactic Magnetic field through OH masers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2015

James A. Green ,
Naomi M. McClure-Griffiths ,
James L. Caswell ,
Tim Robishaw ,
Lisa Harvey-Smith  and
Sui Ann Mao
James A. Green
Affiliation:
CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Australia Telescope National Facility, PO Box 76, Epping, NSW 1710, Australia email: [email protected]
Naomi M. McClure-Griffiths
Affiliation:
CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Australia Telescope National Facility, PO Box 76, Epping, NSW 1710, Australia email: [email protected]
James L. Caswell
Affiliation:
CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Australia Telescope National Facility, PO Box 76, Epping, NSW 1710, Australia email: [email protected]
Tim Robishaw
Affiliation:
National Research Council, Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory, PO Box 248, Penticton, BC V2A 6J9, Canada
Lisa Harvey-Smith
Affiliation:
CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Australia Telescope National Facility, PO Box 76, Epping, NSW 1710, Australia email: [email protected]
Sui Ann Mao
Affiliation:
Jansky Fellow, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, P.O. Box O, Socorro, NM 87801, USA Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin, Madison WI 53706, USA
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Abstract

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We are undertaking a project (MAGMO) to examine large-scale magnetic fields pervading regions of high-mass star formation. The project will test if the orientations of weak large-scale magnetic fields can be maintained in the contraction (and field amplification) to the high densities encountered in high-mass star forming regions. This will be achieved through correlating targeted observations of ground-state hydroxyl (OH) maser emission towards hundreds of sites of high-mass star formation spread throughout the spiral arms of the Milky Way. Through the Zeeman splitting of the OH maser emission these observations will determine the strength and orientation of the in-situ magnetic field. The completion of the southern hemisphere Methanol Multibeam survey has provided an abundance of targets for ground-state OH maser observations, approximately 1000 sites of high-mass star formation. With this sample, much larger and more homogeneous than previously available, we will have the statistics necessary to outweigh random fluctuations and observe an underlying Galactic magnetic field if it exists. We presented details of the overall progress of the project illustrated by the results of a pilot sample of sources towards the Carina-Sagittarius spiral arm tangent, where a coherent field is implied.

Keywords

masersstars: formationISM: magnetic fieldsGalaxy: structure
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 10 , Highlights H16: Highlights of Astronomy , August 2012 , pp. 402
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2015 

References

Green, J. A., Caswell, J. L., & Fuller, G. A., 2009, MNRAS, 392, 783CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caswell, J. L., Fuller, G. A., & Green, J. A., 2010, MNRAS, 404, 1029CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, J. A., McClure-Griffiths, N. M., Caswell, J. L., Robishaw, T., & Harvey-Smith, L., 2012, MNRAS, 425, 2530CrossRefGoogle Scholar