Bibcode
DOI
Pereyra, A.; Magalhães, A. M.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 603, Issue 2, pp. 584-594.
Advertised on:
3
2004
Journal
Citations
59
Refereed citations
49
Description
We have used CCD imaging polarimetry to obtain linear polarization
measurements of background stars toward the filamentary Musca dark
cloud. We present a catalog of 2497 objects with polarization
signal-to-noise ratio larger than 5. This allows us to build
polarization maps to infer the detailed geometry of the local magnetic
field. We show composite polarization maps along the cloud and explore
general correlations of the polarimetric data with the morphology of the
region. We find the overall field to be strikingly aligned with the
projected small axis of the filamentary cloud. We detect a lower limit
for the polarization across the cloud of ~2%, with an enhanced
polarization of 6%-7% in the central region. We find evidence that the
polarization pattern is altered in the inner regions, those associated
with higher extinction.
Based on observations obtained at the Observatório do Pico dos
Dias, LNA/MCT, Itajubá, Brazil.