Abstract
We discuss how the combination of polarimetry and ion-to-neutral molecular line width ratio measurements permits the determination of the magnitude and orientation of the magnetic field in the weakly ionized parts of molecular clouds. Polarimetry measurements give the field orientation in the plane of the sky and the ion-to-neutral molecular line width ratio determines the angle between the magnetic field and the line of sight. We show the first results obtained with this technique on the M17 and Orion A star-forming region using Hertz 350 µm polarimetry maps and HCO+-to-HCN molecular line width ratios to provide the first view of the spatial orientation of the magnetic field these molecular clouds.
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© 2004 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Houde, M. et al. (2004). The Measurement of the Orientation of the Magnetic Field in Molecular Clouds. In: de Castro, A.I.G., Heyer, M., Vázquez-Semadeni, E., Rebolo, R., Tagger, M., Pudritz, R.E. (eds) Magnetic Fields and Star Formation. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0491-5_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0491-5_13
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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