Search

We observed the high-mass protostellar core G335.579-0.272 ALMA1 at ${\sim}200$ au (0.05") resolution with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) at 226 GHz (with a mass sensitivity of $5\sigma=0.2$ M$_\odot$ at 10 K). We discovered that at least a binary system is forming inside this region, with an additional nearby bow-like structure (${\lesssim}1000$ au) that could add an additional member to the stellar system. These three sources are located at the center of the gravitational potential well of the ALMA1 region and the larger MM1 cluster. The emission from CH$_3$OH (and many other tracers) is extended ($>1000$ au), revealing a common envelope toward the binary system. We use CH$_2$CHCN line emission to estimate an inclination angle of the rotation axis of $26^\circ$ with respect to the line of sight based on geometric assumptions and derive a kinematic mass of the primary source (protostar+disk) of 3.0 M$_\odot$ within a radius of 230 au. Using SiO emission, we find that the primary source drives the large scale outflow revealed by previous observations. Precession of the binary system likely produces a change in orientation between the outflow at small scales observed here and large scales observed in previous works. The bow structure may have originated by entrainment of matter into the envelope due to widening or precession of the outflow, or, alternatively, an accretion streamer dominated by the gravity of the central sources. An additional third source, forming due to instabilities in the streamer, cannot be ruled out as a temperature gradient is needed to produce the observed absorption spectra., Comment: 23 pages, 16 figures, 4 tables, 2 appendices. Accepted for publication in ApJ

We present 850 $��$m polarimetric observations toward the Serpens Main molecular cloud obtained using the POL-2 polarimeter on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) as part of the B-fields In STar-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey. These observations probe the magnetic field morphology of the Serpens Main molecular cloud on about 6000 au scales, which consists of cores and six filaments with different physical properties such as density and star formation activity. Using the histogram of relative orientation (HRO) technique, we find that magnetic fields are parallel to filaments in less dense filamentary structures where $N_{H_2} < 0.93\times 10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$ (magnetic fields perpendicular to density gradients), while being perpendicular to filaments (magnetic fields parallel to density gradients) in dense filamentary structures with star formation activity. Moreover, applying the HRO technique to denser core regions, we find that magnetic field orientations change to become perpendicular to density gradients again at $N_{H_2} \approx 4.6 \times 10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$. This can be interpreted as a signature of core formation. At $N_{H_2} \approx 16 \times 10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$ magnetic fields change back to being parallel to density gradients once again, which can be understood to be due to magnetic fields being dragged in by infalling material. In addition, we estimate the magnetic field strengths of the filaments ($B_{POS} = 60-300~��$G)) using the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method and discuss whether the filaments are gravitationally unstable based on magnetic field and turbulence energy densities., 18 pages, accepted for publication in ApJ

Tao-Chung Ching et al., We present 850 μm dust polarization observations of the massive DR21 filament from the B-fields In STar-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey, using the POL-2 polarimeter and the SCUBA-2 camera on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. We detect ordered magnetic fields perpendicular to the parsec-scale ridge of the DR21 main filament. In the subfilaments, the magnetic fields are mainly parallel to the filamentary structures and smoothly connect to the magnetic fields of the main filament. We compare the POL-2 and Planck dust polarization observations to study the magnetic field structures of the DR21 filament on 0.1–10 pc scales. The magnetic fields revealed in the Planck data are well-aligned with those of the POL-2 data, indicating a smooth variation of magnetic fields from large to small scales. The plane-of-sky magnetic field strengths derived from angular dispersion functions of dust polarization are 0.6–1.0 mG in the DR21 filament and ∼0.1 mG in the surrounding ambient gas. The mass-to-flux ratios are found to be magnetically supercritical in the filament and slightly subcritical to nearly critical in the ambient gas. The alignment between column density structures and magnetic fields changes from random alignment in the low-density ambient gas probed by Planck to mostly perpendicular in the high-density main filament probed by James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. The magnetic field structures of the DR21 filament are in agreement with MHD simulations of a strongly magnetized medium, suggesting that magnetic fields play an important role in shaping the DR21 main filament and subfilaments., This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) grant Nos. 11988101, U1931117, 11725313, and 12073061 and the CAS International Partnership Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences grant No. 114A11KYSB20160008. T.-C.C. is funded by Chinese Academy of Sciences Taiwan Young Talent Program grant No. 2018TW2JB0002. T.-C.C. and C.E. were supported by Special Funding for Advanced Users, budgeted and administrated by Center for Astronomical Mega-Science (CAMS), Chinese Academy of Sciences. K.P. is a Royal Society University Research Fellow, supported by grant No. URF\R1\211322. D.J. is supported by the National Research Council of Canada and by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant. P.M.K. is supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) in Taiwan through grants 109-2112-M-001-022 and 110-2112-M-001-057. C.W.L. is supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (NRF-2019R1A2C1010851), and by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT; Project No. 2022-1-840-05). T.H. is supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) through the Mid-career Research Program (2019R1A2C1087045). W.K. was supported by the NRF grant funded by the MSIT (2021R1F1A1061794). C.E. acknowledges the financial support from grant RJF/2020/000071 as a part of Ramanujan Fellowship awarded by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India. F.P. acknowledges support from the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) under grant No. PID2019-105552RB-C43. M.T. is supported by JSPS KAKENHI grant Nos. 18H05442, 15H02063, and 22000005. J.K. is supported by JSPS KAKENHI grant No. 19K14775. L.F. and F.K. acknowledge the support by the MoST in Taiwan through grant 107-2119-M-001-031-MY3 and Academia Sinica through grant AS-IA-106-M03. L.F. acknowledges the support by the MoST in Taiwan through grants 111-2811-M-005-007 and 109-2112-M-005-003-MY3. C.L.H.H. acknowledges the support of the NAOJ Fellowship and JSPS KAKENHI grants 18K13586 and 20K14527. F.K. is supported by the Spanish program Unidad de Excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2020-001058-M, financed by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. K.Q. is partially supported by National Key R&D Program of China No. 2022YFA1603100, and acknowledges the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) grant U1731237. S.P.L. acknowledges grants from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan 106-2119-M-007-021-MY3 and 109-2112-M-007-010-MY3. Y.D. acknowledges the support of JSPS KAKENHI grants 25247016 and 18H01250. Y.S.D. is supported by the National Key R&D Program of China for grant No. 2022YFA1605300, and NSFC grants Nos. 12273051, 11933003.

We present ALMA dust polarization and molecular line observations toward 4 clumps (I(N), I, IV, and V) in the massive star-forming region NGC 6334. In conjunction with large-scale dust polarization and molecular line data from JCMT, Planck, and NANTEN2, we make a synergistic analysis of relative orientations between magnetic fields ($\theta_{\mathrm{B}}$), column density gradients ($\theta_{\mathrm{NG}}$), local gravity ($\theta_{\mathrm{LG}}$), and velocity gradients ($\theta_{\mathrm{VG}}$) to investigate the multi-scale (from $\sim$30 pc to 0.003 pc) physical properties in NGC 6334. We find that the relative orientation between $\theta_{\mathrm{B}}$ and $\theta_{\mathrm{NG}}$ changes from statistically more perpendicular to parallel as column density ($N_{\mathrm{H_2}}$) increases, which is a signature of trans-to-sub-Alfv\'{e}nic turbulence at complex/cloud scales as revealed by previous numerical studies. Because $\theta_{\mathrm{NG}}$ and $\theta_{\mathrm{LG}}$ are preferentially aligned within the NGC 6334 cloud, we suggest that the more parallel alignment between $\theta_{\mathrm{B}}$ and $\theta_{\mathrm{NG}}$ at higher $N_{\mathrm{H_2}}$ is because the magnetic field line is dragged by gravity. At even higher $N_{\mathrm{H_2}}$, the angle between $\theta_{\mathrm{B}}$ and $\theta_{\mathrm{NG}}$ or $\theta_{\mathrm{LG}}$ transits back to having no preferred orientation or statistically slightly more perpendicular, suggesting that the magnetic field structure is impacted by star formation activities. A statistically more perpendicular alignment is found between $\theta_{\mathrm{B}}$ and $\theta_{\mathrm{VG}}$ throughout our studied $N_{\mathrm{H_2}}$ range, which indicates a trans-to-sub-Alfv\'{e}nic state at small scales as well. The normalised mass-to-flux ratio derived from the polarization-intensity gradient (KTH) method increases with $N_{\mathrm{H_2}}$., Comment: 35 pages, 18 figures. Accepted by ApJ

Hwang et al., We present and analyze observations of polarized dust emission at 850 μm toward the central 1 × 1 pc hub-filament structure of Monoceros R2 (Mon R2). The data are obtained with SCUBA-2/POL-2 on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) as part of the B-fields in Star-forming Region Observations survey. The orientations of the magnetic field follow the spiral structure of Mon R2, which are well described by an axisymmetric magnetic field model. We estimate the turbulent component of the magnetic field using the angle difference between our observations and the best-fit model of the underlying large-scale mean magnetic field. This estimate is used to calculate the magnetic field strength using the Davis–Chandrasekhar–Fermi method, for which we also obtain the distribution of volume density and velocity dispersion using a column density map derived from Herschel data and the C18O (J = 3 − 2) data taken with HARP on the JCMT, respectively. We make maps of magnetic field strengths and mass-to-flux ratios, finding that magnetic field strengths vary from 0.02 to 3.64 mG with a mean value of 1.0 ± 0.06 mG, and the mean critical mass-to-flux ratio is 0.47 ± 0.02. Additionally, the mean Alfvén Mach number is 0.35 ± 0.01. This suggests that, in Mon R2, the magnetic fields provide resistance against large-scale gravitational collapse, and the magnetic pressure exceeds the turbulent pressure. We also investigate the properties of each filament in Mon R2. Most of the filaments are aligned along the magnetic field direction and are magnetically subcritical., J.H. is supported by the University of Science and Technology (UST) Overseas Training Program 2022, funded by the University of Science and Technology, Korea (No. 2022-017). K.P. is a Royal Society University Research Fellow, supported by grant number URF\R1\211322. C.W.L. was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (NRF- 2019R1A2C1010851), and by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT; Project No. 2022-1-840-05). D.J. and J.d.F. are supported by the National Research Council of Canada and by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grants. G.P. is supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF; 2020R1A6A3A01100208) W.K. was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT; NRF-2021R1F1A1061794). M.T. is supported by JSPS KAKENHI grant Nos. 18H05442, 15H02063, and 22000005. J.K. is supported by JSPS KAKENHI grant No. 19K14775. M.M. is supported by JSPS KAKENHI grant No. 20K03276. F.P. acknowledges support from the Spanish State Research Agency Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) under grant number PID2019-105552RB-C43. S.P.L., H.Y.D., S.J.L., and M.Z.Y. acknowledge grants from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan 106-2119-M-007-021-MY3 and 109-2112-M-007-010-MY3. C.E. acknowledges the financial support from grant RJF/2020/000071 as a part of a Ramanujan Fellowship awarded by Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India. L.F. and F.K. acknowledge support from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan, under grant No. MoST107-2119-M-001-031- MY3 and from Academia Sinica under grant No. AS-IA-106-M03. L.F. acknowledges the support by the MoST in Taiwan through grants 111-2811-M-005-007 and 109-2112-M-005-003-MY3. F.K. acknowledges support from the Spanish program Unidad de Excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2020-001058-M, financed by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. Y.S.D. would like to acknowledge the support from NSFC grants 12273051 and 10878003. M.R. is supported by the international Gemini Observatory, a program of NSFs NOIRLab, which is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation, on behalf of the Gemini partnership of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the Republic of Korea, and the United States of America. The JCMT is operated by the East Asian Observatory on behalf of The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan; Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics; the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute; the Operation, Maintenance and Upgrading Fund for Astronomical Telescopes and Facility Instruments, budgeted from the Ministry of Finance of China. Additional funding support is provided by the Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom and participating universities and organizations in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Ireland. Additional funds for the construction of SCUBA-2 were provided by the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

We present the four-year survey results of monthly submillimeter monitoring of eight nearby ($< 500 $pc) star-forming regions by the JCMT Transient Survey. We apply the Lomb-Scargle Periodogram technique to search for and characterize variability on 295 submillimeter peaks brighter than 0.14 Jy beam$^{-1}$, including 22 disk sources (Class II), 83 protostars (Class 0/I), and 190 starless sources. We uncover 18 secular variables, all of them protostars. No single-epoch burst or drop events and no inherently stochastic sources are observed. We classify the secular variables by their timescales into three groups: Periodic, Curved, and Linear. For the Curved and Periodic cases, the detectable fractional amplitude, with respect to mean peak brightness, is $\sim4$ % for sources brighter than $\sim$ 0.5 Jy beam$^{-1}$. Limiting our sample to only these bright sources, the observed variable fraction is 37 % (16 out of 43). Considering source evolution, we find a similar fraction of bright variables for both Class 0 and Class I. Using an empirically motivated conversion from submillimeter variability to variation in mass accretion rate, six sources (7 % of our full sample) are predicted to have years-long accretion events during which the excess mass accreted reaches more than 40 % above the total quiescently accreted mass: two previously known eruptive Class I sources, V1647 Ori and EC 53 (V371 Ser), and four Class 0 sources, HOPS 356, HOPS 373, HOPS 383, and West 40. Considering the full protostellar ensemble, the importance of episodic accretion on few years timescale is negligible, only a few percent of the assembled mass. However, given that this accretion is dominated by events of order the observing time-window, it remains uncertain as to whether the importance of episodic events will continue to rise with decades-long monitoring., Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

We present the results of simultaneous 450 $\mu$m and 850 $\mu$m polarization observations toward the massive star forming region NGC 2071IR, a target of the BISTRO (B-fields in Star-Forming Region Observations) Survey, using the POL-2 polarimeter and SCUBA-2 camera mounted on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. We find a pinched magnetic field morphology in the central dense core region, which could be due to a rotating toroidal disk-like structure and a bipolar outflow originating from the central young stellar object, IRS 3. Using the modified Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method, we obtain a plane-of-sky magnetic field strength of 563$\pm$421 $\mu$G in the central $\sim$0.12 pc region from 850 $\mu$m polarization data. The corresponding magnetic energy density of 2.04$\times$10$^{-8}$ erg cm$^{-3}$ is comparable to the turbulent and gravitational energy densities in the region. We find that the magnetic field direction is very well aligned with the whole of the IRS 3 bipolar outflow structure. We find that the median value of polarization fractions, 3.0 \%, at 450 $\mu$m in the central 3 arcminute region, which is larger than the median value of 1.2 \% at 850 $\mu$m. The trend could be due to the better alignment of warmer dust in the strong radiation environment. We also find that polarization fractions decrease with intensity at both wavelengths, with slopes, determined by fitting a Rician noise model, of $0.59 \pm 0.03$ at 450 $\mu$m and $0.36 \pm 0.04$ at 850 $\mu$m, respectively. We think that the shallow slope at 850 $\mu$m is due to grain alignment at the center being assisted by strong radiation from the central young stellar objects., Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables

A full understanding of high-mass star formation requires the study of one of the most elusive components of the energy balance in the interstellar medium: magnetic fields. We report Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) 1.2 mm, high-resolution (700 au) dust polarization and molecular line observations of the rotating hot molecular core embedded in the high-mass star-forming region IRAS 18089-1732. The dust continuum emission and magnetic field morphology present spiral-like features resembling a whirlpool. The velocity field traced by the H13CO+ (J = 3-2) transition line reveals a complex structure with spiral filaments that are likely infalling and rotating, dragging the field with them. We have modeled the magnetic field and find that the best model corresponds to a weakly magnetized core with a mass-to-magnetic-flux ratio (λ) of 8.38. The modeled magnetic field is dominated by a poloidal component, but with an important contribution from the toroidal component that has a magnitude of 30% of the poloidal component. Using the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method, we estimate a magnetic field strength of 3.5 mG. At the spatial scales accessible to ALMA, an analysis of the energy balance of the system indicates that gravity overwhelms turbulence, rotation, and the magnetic field. We show that high-mass star formation can occur in weakly magnetized environments, with gravity taking the dominant role., P.S. and B.W. were partially supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI number 18H01259) of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). J.M.G. is supported by the Spanish grant AYA2017-84390-C2-R (AEI/FEDER, UE). C.L.H.H. acknowledges the support of the NAOJ Fellowship and JSPS KAKENHI grants 18K13586 and 20K14527. J.M.J.'s research was conducted in part at the SOFIA Science Center, which is operated by the Universities Space Research Association under contract NNA17BF53C with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. K.T. was supported by JSPS KAKENHI grant No. 20H05645. Data analysis was in part carried out on the Multi-wavelength Data Analysis System operated by the Astronomy Data Center (ADC), National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. This paper makes use of the following ALMA data: ADS/JAO.ALMA#2017.1.00101.S. ALMA is a partnership of ESO (representing its member states), NSF (USA) and NINS (Japan), together with NRC (Canada), MOST and ASIAA (Taiwan), and KASI (Republic of Korea), in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. The Joint ALMA Observatory is operated by ESO, AUI/NRAO and NAOJ.

Young stars exhibit variability due to changes in the gas accretion rate onto them, an effect that should be quite significant in the early stages of their formation. As protostars are embedded within their natal cloud, this variability may only be inferred through long wavelength observations. We perform radiative transfer simulations of young stellar objects (YSOs) formed in hydrodynamical simulations, varying the structure and luminosity properties in order to estimate the long-wavelength, sub-mm and mm, variations of their flux. We find that the flux increase due to an outburst event depends on the protostellar structure and is more prominent at sub-mm wavelengths than at mm wavelengths; e.g. a factor of 40 increase in the luminosity of the young protostar leads to a flux increase of a factor of 10 at 250 micron but only a factor of 2.5 at 1.3 mm. We find that the interstellar radiation field dilutes the flux increase but that this effect may be avoided if resolution permits the monitoring of the inner regions of a YSO, where the heating is primarily due to protostellar radiation. We also confirm that the bolometric temperature and luminosity of outbursting protostars may result in an incorrect classification of their evolutionary stage., Comment: MNRAS accepted, 8 pages, 9 figures

We have obtained sensitive dust continuum polarization observations at 850 μm in the B213 region of Taurus using POL-2 on SCUBA-2 at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope as part of the B-fields in STar-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey. These observations allow us to probe magnetic field (B-field) at high spatial resolution (∼2000 au or ∼0.01 pc at 140 pc) in two protostellar cores (K04166 and K04169) and one prestellar core (Miz-8b) that lie within the B213 filament. Using the Davis–Chandrasekhar–Fermi method, we estimate the B-field strengths in K04166, K04169, and Miz-8b to be 38 ± 14, 44 ± 16, and 12 ± 5 μG, respectively. These cores show distinct mean B-field orientations. The B-field in K04166 is well ordered and aligned parallel to the orientations of the core minor axis, outflows, core rotation axis, and large-scale uniform B-field, in accordance with magnetically regulated star formation via ambipolar diffusion taking place in K04166. The B-field in K04169 is found to be ordered but oriented nearly perpendicular to the core minor axis and large-scale B-field and not well correlated with other axes. In contrast, Miz-8b exhibits a disordered B-field that shows no preferred alignment with the core minor axis or large-scale field. We found that only one core, K04166, retains a memory of the large-scale uniform B-field. The other two cores, K04169 and Miz-8b, are decoupled from the large-scale field. Such a complex B-field configuration could be caused by gas inflow onto the filament, even in the presence of a substantial magnetic flux.

We observed the high-mass star-forming region G335.579-0.292 with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) at 226 GHz with an angular resolution of 0.3'' ($\sim 1000$ au resolution at the source distance). G335.579-0.292 hosts one of the most massive cores in the Galaxy (G335-MM1). The continuum emission shows that G335-MM1 fragments into at least five sources, while molecular line emission is detected in two of the continuum sources (ALMA1 and ALMA3). We found evidence of large and small scale infall in ALMA1 revealed by an inverse P-Cygni profile and the presence of a blue-shifted spot at the center of the first moment map of the CH$_3$CN emission. In addition, hot gas expansion in the innermost region is unveiled by a red-shifted spot in the first moment map of HDCO and (CH$_3$)$_2$CO (both with $E_u > 1100$ K). Our modeling reveals that this expansion motion originates close to the central source, likely due to reversal of the accretion flow induced by the expansion of the HII region, while infall and rotation motions originate in the outer regions. ALMA3 shows clear signs of rotation, with a rotation axis inclination with respect to the line of sight close to $90^\circ$, and a system mass (disk + star) in the range of 10-30 M$_\odot$., 15 pages, 12 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Theoretical and numerical works indicate that a strong magnetic field should suppress fragmentation in dense cores. However, this has never been tested observationally in a relatively large sample of fragmenting massive dense cores. Here we use the polarization data obtained in the Submillimeter Array Legacy Survey of Zhang et al. to build a sample of 18 massive dense cores where both fragmentation and magnetic field properties are studied in a uniform way. We measured the fragmentation level, Nmm, within the field of view common to all regions, of 0.15 pc, with a mass sensitivity of about 0.5 Msun, and a spatial resolution of about 1000 au. In order to obtain the magnetic field strength using the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method, we estimated the dispersion of the polarization position angles, the velocity dispersion of the H13CO+(4-3) gas, and the density of each core, all averaged within 0.15 pc. A strong correlation is found between Nmm and the average density of the parental core, although with significant scatter. When large-scale systematic motions are separated from the velocity dispersion and only the small-scale (turbulent) contribution is taken into account, a tentative correlation is found between Nmm and the mass-to-flux ratio, as suggested by numerical and theoretical works., accepted in ApJ

We report the first high spatial resolution measurement of magnetic fields surrounding LkH$\alpha$ 101, a part of the Auriga-California molecular cloud. The observations were taken with the POL-2 polarimeter on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope within the framework of the B-fields In Star-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey. Observed polarization of thermal dust emission at 850 $\mu$m is found to be mostly associated with the red-shifted gas component of the cloud. The magnetic field displays a relatively complex morphology. Two variants of the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method, unsharp masking and structure function, are used to calculate the strength of magnetic fields in the plane of the sky, yielding a similar result of $B_{\rm POS}\sim 115$ $\mathrm{\mu}$G. The mass-to-magnetic-flux ratio in critical value units, $\lambda\sim0.3$, is the smallest among the values obtained for other regions surveyed by POL-2. This implies that the LkH$\alpha$ 101 region is sub-critical and the magnetic field is strong enough to prevent gravitational collapse. The inferred $\delta B/B_0\sim 0.3$ implies that the large scale component of the magnetic field dominates the turbulent one. The variation of the polarization fraction with total emission intensity can be fitted by a power-law with an index of $\alpha=0.82\pm0.03$, which lies in the range previously reported for molecular clouds. We find that the polarization fraction decreases rapidly with proximity to the only early B star (LkH$\alpha$ 101) in the region. The magnetic field tangling and the joint effect of grain alignment and rotational disruption by radiative torques are potential of explaining such a decreasing trend., Comment: 25 pages, 19 figures, Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal

The presence of complex organic molecules (COMs) in the interstellar medium (ISM) is of great interest since it may link to the origin and prevalence of life in the universe. Aiming to investigate the occurrence of COMs and their possible origins, we conducted a chemical census toward a sample of protostellar cores as part of the ALMA Survey of Orion Planck Galactic Cold Clumps (ALMASOP) project. We report the detection of 11 hot corino sources, which exhibit compact emissions from warm and abundant COMs, among 56 Class 0/I protostellar cores. All the hot corino sources discovered are likely Class 0 and their sizes of the warm region ($>$ 100 K) are comparable to 100 au. The luminosity of the hot corino sources exhibits positive correlations with the total number of methanol and the extent of its emissions. Such correlations are consistent with the thermal desorption picture for the presence of hot corino and suggest that the lower luminosity (Class 0) sources likely have a smaller region with COMs emissions. With the same sample selection method and detection criteria being applied, the detection rates of the warm methanol in the Orion cloud (15/37) and the Perseus cloud (28/50) are statistically similar when the cloud distances and the limited sample size are considered. Observing the same set of COM transitions will bring a more informative comparison between the cloud properties., 34 pages. 14 figures. 1 figure set. 1 machine-readable table. Accepted for publication in ApJ

We present new observations of the active star formation region NGC 1333 in the Perseus molecular cloud complex from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope B -Fields In Star-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey with the POL-2 instrument. The BISTRO data cover the entire NGC 1333 complex (∼1.5 pc × 2 pc) at 0.02 pc resolution and spatially resolve the polarized emission from individual filamentary structures for the first time. The inferred magnetic field structure is complex as a whole, with each individual filament aligned at different position angles relative to the local field orientation. We combine the BISTRO data with low- and high- resolution data derived from Planck and interferometers to study the multiscale magnetic field structure in this region. The magnetic field morphology drastically changes below a scale of ∼1 pc and remains continuous from the scales of filaments (∼0.1 pc) to that of protostellar envelopes (∼0.005 pc or ∼1000 au). Finally, we construct simple models in which we assume that the magnetic field is always perpendicular to the long axis of the filaments. We demonstrate that the observed variation of the relative orientation between the filament axes and the magnetic field angles are well reproduced by this model, taking into account the projection effects of the magnetic field and filaments relative to the plane of the sky. These projection effects may explain the apparent complexity of the magnetic field structure observed at the resolution of BISTRO data toward the filament network., Erratum published in volume 899, issue 1, 5 p., April 10 2021. DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/abf2b3

In the episodic accretion scenario, a large fraction of the protostellar mass accretes during repeated and large bursts of accretion. Since outbursts on protostars are typically identified at specific wavelengths, interpreting these outbursts requires converting this change in flux to a change in total luminosity. The Class I young stellar object EC 53 in the Serpens Main cloud has undergone repeated increases in brightness at 850 $\mu$m that are likely caused by bursts of accretion. In this study, we perform two- and three-dimensional continuum radiative transfer modeling to quantify the internal luminosity rise in EC 53 that corresponds to the factor of $\sim$1.5 enhancement in flux at 850 $\mu$m. We model the spectral energy distribution and radial intensity profile in both the quiescent and outburst phases. The internal luminosity in the outburst phase is $\sim 3.3$ times brighter than the luminosity in the quiescent phase. The radial intensity profile analysis demonstrates that the detected sub-mm flux variation of EC 53 comes from the heated envelope by the accretion burst. We also find that the role of external heating of the EC 53 envelope by the interstellar radiation field is insignificant., Comment: 16 pages, 14 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ

[Abridged] Filaments and hubs have received special attention recently thanks to studies showing their role in star formation. While the column density and velocity structures of both filaments and hubs have been studied, their magnetic fields (B-field) are not yet characterized. We aim to understand the role of the B-field in the dynamical evolution of the NGC 6334 hub-filament network. We present new observations of the dust polarized emission at 850$\mu$m towards NGC 6334 obtained with the JCMT/POL-2. We study the distribution and dispersion of the polarized intensity ($PI$), the polarization fraction ($PF$), and the B-field angle ($\theta_{B}$). We derive the power spectrum of the intensity and $\theta_{B}$ along the ridge crest. Our analyses show a complex B-field structure when observed over the whole region ($\sim10$ pc), however, at smaller scales ($\sim1$ pc), $\theta_{B}$ varies coherently along the filaments. The observed power spectrum of $\theta_{B}$ can be well represented with a power law function with a slope $-1.33\pm0.23$, which is $\sim20\%$ shallower than that of $I$. This result is compatible with the properties of simulated filaments and may indicate the processes at play in the formation of filaments. $\theta_{B}$ rotates from being mostly perpendicular to the filament crests to mostly parallel as they merge with the hubs. This variation of $\theta_{B}$ may be tracing local velocity flows of matter in-falling onto the hubs. Our analysis suggests a variation of the energy balance along the crests of these filaments, from magnetically critical/supercritical at their far ends to magnetically subcritical near the hubs. We detect an increase of $PF$ towards the high-column density star cluster-forming hubs that may result from the increase of grain alignment efficiency due to stellar radiation from the newborn stars., Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

Accretion onto protostars may occur in sharp bursts. Accretion bursts during the embedded phase of young protostars are probably most intense, but can only be inferred indirectly through long-wavelength observations. We perform radiative transfer calculations for young stellar objects (YSOs) formed in hydrodynamic simulations to predict the long wavelength, sub-mm and mm, flux responses to episodic accretion events, taking into account heating from the young protostar and from the interstellar radiation field. We find that the flux increase due to episodic accretion events is more prominent at sub-mm wavelengths than at mm wavelengths; e.g. a factor of ~570 increase in the luminosity of the young protostar leads to a flux increase of a factor of 47 at 250 micron but only a factor of 10 at 1.3 mm. Heating from the interstellar radiation field may reduce further the flux increase observed at longer wavelengths. We find that during FU Ori-type outbursts the bolometric temperature and luminosity may incorrectly classify a source as a more evolved YSO, due to a larger fraction of the radiation of the object being emitted at shorter wavelengths, MNRAS accepted, 12 pages, 9 figures

Filaments are ubiquitous structures in molecular clouds and play an important role in the mass assembly of stars. We present results of dynamical stability analyses for filaments in the infrared dark cloud G14.225$-$0.506, where a delayed onset of massive star formation was reported in the two hubs at the convergence of multiple filaments of parsec length. Full-synthesis imaging is performed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to map the $\mathrm{N_2H^+} \; (1-0)$ emission in two hub-filament systems with a spatial resolution of $\sim 0.034 \; \mathrm{pc}$. Kinematics are derived from sophisticated spectral fitting algorithm that accounts for line blending, large optical depth, and multiple velocity components. We identify five velocity coherent filaments and derive their velocity gradients with principal component analysis. The mass accretion rates along the filaments are up to $10^{-4} \; \mathrm{M_\odot \, \mathrm{yr^{-1}}}$ and are significant enough to affect the hub dynamics within one free-fall time ($\sim 10^5 \; \mathrm{yr}$). The $\mathrm{N_2H^+}$ filaments are in equilibrium with virial parameter $\alpha_\mathrm{vir} \sim 1.2$. We compare $\alpha_\mathrm{vir}$ measured in the $\mathrm{N_2H^+}$ filaments, $\mathrm{NH_3}$ filaments, $870 \; \mu\mathrm{m}$ dense clumps, and $3 \; \mathrm{mm}$ dense cores. The decreasing trend in $\alpha_\mathrm{vir}$ with decreasing spatial scales persists, suggesting an increasingly important role of gravity at small scales. Meanwhile, $\alpha_\mathrm{vir}$ also decreases with decreasing non-thermal motions. In combination with the absence of high-mass protostars and massive cores, our results are consistent with the global hierarchical collapse scenario., Comment: 31 pages, 21 figures, 2 movies (plus 2 more movies in the published version), accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal

We report 1.2 mm polarized continuum emission observations carried out with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) toward the high-mass star formation region G5.89-0.39. The observations show a prominent 0.2 pc north-south filamentary structure. The UCHII in G5.89-0.39 breaks the filament in two pieces. Its millimeter emission shows a dusty belt with a mass of 55-115 M$_{\odot}$ and 4,500 au in radius, surrounding an inner part comprising mostly ionized gas with a dust emission only accounting about 30% of the total millimeter emission. We also found a lattice of convex arches which may be produced by dragged dust and gas from the explosive dispersal event involving the O5 Feldt's star. The north-south filament has a mass between 300-600 M$_{\odot}$ and harbours a cluster of about 20 millimeter envelopes with a median size and mass of 1700 au and 1.5 M$_{\odot}$, respectively, some of which are already forming protostars. We interpret the polarized emission in the filament as mainly coming from magnetically aligned dust grains. The polarization fraction is ~4.4% in the filaments and 2.1% at the shell. The magnetic fields are along the North Filament and perpendicular to the South Filament. In the Central Shell, the magnetic fields are roughly radial in a ring surrounding the dusty belt between 4,500 and 7,500 au, similar to the pattern recently found in the surroundings of Orion BN/KL. This may be an independent observational signpost of explosive dispersal outflows and should be further investigated in other regions., Comment: Accepted in ApJ. 26 pages, 17 figures

In the published article, we presented high-resolution polarimetry data obtained by using JCMT SCUBA-2/POL-2, and compared them with the larger-scale magnetic structure observed by Planck (Planck Collaboration et al. 2020). There was a miscalculation in the analysis of the Planck data for comparison, and the mean position angle of the Planck magnetic field should be corrected from -40° ± 7° to -48° ± 6°. Thus, we replace the descriptions in the published article as follows. In Section 4.2, paragraph 3, the second sentence should read: "The differences between the orientations of IRAS 4A, IRAS 4B, and IRAS 2A are not statistically significant, but they do show significantly different orientations from those of the global B-field observed by Planck (-48° ± 6°; Section 4.1)." In Section 4.1, paragraph 3, the second line should read: "The Planck B-field orientation shows a smoothly and slowly varying field distribution with a position angle of -48° ± 6° in our observed NGC 1333 area." Accordingly, we replace Figures 4, 5, 9, 10, and 17 to reflect the correct Planck data. As described above, this error of modest magnitude is related only to our derivation of the Planck polarization angle, and the JCMT observation results are unaffected. Therefore, all conclusions drawn in the published article are unchanged even after the above correction is applied. The 1 pc scale magnetic field observed by Planck shows a smooth distribution, and the interstellar magnetic field in molecular clouds increases the complexity significantly on the scale of less than 1 pc.

We report the detection of four new hot corino sources, G211.47-19.27S, G208.68-19.20N1, G210.49-19.79W and G192.12-11.10 from a survey study of Planck Galactic Cold Clumps in the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex with the Atacama Compact Array (ACA). Three sources had been identified as low mass Class 0 protostars in the Herschel Orion Protostar Survey (HOPS). One source in the lambda Orionis region is firstly reported as a protostellar core. We have observed abundant complex organic molecules (COMs), primarily methanol but also other oxygen-bearing COMs (in G211.47-19.27S and G208.68-19.20N1) and the molecule of prebiotic interest NH2CHO (in G211.47-19.27S), signifying the presence of hot corinos. While our spatial resolution is not sufficient for resolving most of the molecular emission structure, the large linewidth and high rotational temperature of COMs suggest that they likely reside in the hotter and innermost region immediately surrounding the protostar. In G211.47-19.27S, the D/H ratio of methanol ([CH2DOH]/[CH3OH]) and the 12C/13C ratio of methanol ([CH3OH]/[13CH3OH]) are comparable to those of other hot corinos. Hydrocarbons and long carbon-chain molecules such as c-C3H2 and HCCCN are also detected in the four sources, likely tracing the outer and cooler molecular envelopes., 37 pages, 51 figures, to be published in ApJ

We report new, $\sim$1000 AU spatial resolution observations of 225 GHz dust continuum emission towards the OB cluster-forming molecular clump G33.92+0.11. On parsec scales, this molecular clump presents a morphology with several arm-like dense gas structures surrounding the two central massive ($\gtrsim$100 $M_{\odot}$) cores. From the new, higher resolution observations, we identified 28 localized, spatially compact dust continuum emission sources, which may be candidates of young stellar objects. Only one of them is not embedded within known arm-like (or elongated) dense gas structures. The spatial separations of these compact sources can be very well explained by Jeans lengths. We found that G33.92+0.11 may be consistently described by a marginally centrifugally supported, Toomre unstable accretion flow which is approximately in a face-on projection. The arm-like overdensities are natural consequence of the Toomre instability, which can fragment to form young stellar objects in shorter time scales than the timescale of the global clump contraction. On our resolved spatial scales, there is not yet evidence that the fragmentation is halted by turbulence, magnetic field, or stellar feedback., 24 pages, 18 figures. Accepted to publish on December 04, 2018; updated to arXiv on December 05, 2018

Investigating variability at the earliest stages of low-mass star formation is fundamental in understanding how a protostar assembles mass. While many simulations of protostellar disks predict non-steady accretion onto protostars, deeper investigation requires robust observational constraints on the frequency and amplitude of variability events characterised across the observable SED. In this study, we develop methods to robustly analyse repeated observations of an area of the sky for submillimetre variability in order to determine constraints on the magnitude and frequency of deeply embedded protostars. We compare \mbox{850 $\mu$m} JCMT Transient Survey data with archival JCMT Gould Belt Survey data to investigate variability over 2-4 year timescales. Out of 175 bright, independent emission sources identified in the overlapping fields, we find 7 variable candidates, 5 of which we classify as \textit{Strong} and the remaining 2 as \textit{Extended} to indicate the latter are associated with larger-scale structure. For the \textit{Strong} variable candidates, we find an average fractional peak brightness change per year of |4.0|\% yr$^{-1}$ with a standard deviation of $2.7\%\mathrm{\:yr}^{-1}$. In total, 7\% of the protostars associated with \mbox{850 $\mu$m} emission in our sample show signs of variability. Four of the five \textit{Strong} sources are associated with a known protostar. The remaining source is a good follow-up target for an object that is anticipated to contain an enshrouded, deeply embedded protostar. In addition, we estimate the \mbox{850 $\mu$m} periodicity of the submillimetre variable source, EC 53, to be \mbox{567 $\pm$ 32 days} based on the archival Gould Belt Survey data., Comment: 33 Pages, 19 figures, Accepted in ApJ

Most protostars have luminosities that are fainter than expected from steady accretion over the protostellar lifetime. The solution to this problem may lie in episodic mass accretion -- prolonged periods of very low accretion punctuated by short bursts of rapid accretion. However, the timescale and amplitude for variability at the protostellar phase is almost entirely unconstrained. In "A JCMT/SCUBA-2 Transient Survey of Protostars in Nearby Star Forming Regions", we are monitoring monthly with SCUBA-2 the sub-mm emission in eight fields within nearby (, ApJ, accepted

We present new spectral line observations of the CH3CN molecule in the accretion disk around the massive protostar IRAS 20126+4104 with the Submillimeter Array that for the first time measure the disk density, temperature, and rotational velocity with sufficient resolution (0.37", equivalent to ~600 AU) to assess the gravitational stability of the disk through the Toomre-Q parameter. Our observations resolve the central 2000 AU region that shows steeper velocity gradients with increasing upper state energy, indicating an increase in the rotational velocity of the hotter gas nearer the star. Such spin-up motions are characteristics of an accretion flow in a rotationally supported disk. We compare the observed data with synthetic image cubes produced by three-dimensional radiative transfer models describing a thin flared disk in Keplerian motion enveloped within the centrifugal radius of an angular-momentum-conserving accretion flow. Given a luminosity of 1.3x10^4 Lsun, the optimized model gives a disk mass of 1.5 Msun and a radius of 858 AU rotating about a 12.0 Msun protostar with a disk mass accretion rate of 3.9x10^{-5} Msun/yr. Our study finds that, in contrast to some theoretical expectations, the disk is hot and stable to fragmentation with Q > 2.8 at all radii which permits a smooth accretion flow. These results put forward the first constraints on gravitational instabilities in massive protostellar disks, which are closely connected to the formation of companion stars and planetary systems by fragmentation., 24 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in ApJ

We analyze results from the first 18 months of monthly submillimeter monitoring of eight star-forming regions in the JCMT Transient Survey. In our search for stochastic variability in 1643 bright peaks, only the previously identified source, EC 53, shows behavior well above the expected measurement uncertainty. Another four sources—two disks and two protostars—show moderately enhanced standard deviations in brightness, as expected for stochastic variables. For the two protostars, this apparent variability is the result of single epochs that are much brighter than the mean. In our search for secular brightness variations that are linear in time, we measure the fractional brightness change per year for 150 bright peaks, 50 of which are protostellar. The ensemble distribution of slopes is well fit by a normal distribution with σ ~ 0.023. Most sources are not rapidly brightening or fading at submillimeter wavelengths. Comparison against time-randomized realizations shows that the width of the distribution is dominated by the uncertainty in the individual brightness measurements of the sources. A toy model for secular variability reveals that an underlying Gaussian distribution of linear fractional brightness change σ = 0.005 would be unobservable in the present sample, whereas an underlying distribution with σ = 0.02 is ruled out. Five protostellar sources, 10% of the protostellar sample, are found to have robust secular measures deviating from a constant flux. The sensitivity to secular brightness variations will improve significantly with a sample over a longer time duration, with an improvement by factor of two expected by the conclusion of our 36 month survey. Publisher PDF

Submillimeter dust polarization measurements of a sample of 50 star-forming regions, observed with the SMA and the CSO covering pc-scale clouds to mpc-scale cores, are analyzed in order to quantify the magnetic field importance. The magnetic field misalignment $\delta$ -- the local angle between magnetic field and dust emission gradient -- is found to be a prime observable, revealing distinct distributions for sources where the magnetic field is preferentially aligned with or perpendicular to the source minor axis. Source-averaged misalignment angles $\langle|\delta|\rangle$ fall into systematically different ranges, reflecting the different source-magnetic field configurations. Possible bimodal $\langle|\delta|\rangle$-distributions are found for the separate SMA and CSO samples. Combining both samples broadens the distribution with a wide maximum peak at small $\langle|\delta|\rangle$-values. Assuming the 50 sources to be representative, the prevailing source-magnetic field configuration is one that statistically prefers small magnetic field misalignments $|\delta|$. When interpreting $|\delta|$ together with an MHD force equation, as developed in the framework of the polarization-intensity gradient method, a sample-based scaling fits the magnetic field tension-to-gravity force ratio $\langle\Sigma_B\rangle$ versus $\langle|\delta|\rangle$ with $\langle\Sigma_B\rangle = 0.116 \cdot \exp(0.047\cdot \langle|\delta|\rangle)\pm 0.20$ (mean error), providing a way to estimate the relative importance of the magnetic field, only based on measurable field misalignments $|\delta|$. The force ratio $\Sigma_B$ discriminates systems that are collapsible on average ($\langle \Sigma_B\rangle 1$) (abridged)., Comment: 43 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables; accepted for publication in ApJ

We have performed a dense core survey toward the Infrared Dark Cloud G14.225-0.506 at 3 mm continuum emission with the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA). This survey covers the two hub-filament systems with an angular resolution of $\sim3$\arcsec ($\sim0.03$ pc). We identified 48 dense cores. Twenty out of the 48 cores are protostellar due to their association with young stellar objects (YSOs) and/or X-ray point-sources, while the other 28 cores are likely prestellar and unrelated with known IR or X-ray emission. Using APEX 870 $\mu$m continuum emission, we also identified the 18 clumps hosting these cores. Through virial analysis using the ALMA N$_2$H$^+$ and VLA/Effelsberg NH$_3$ molecular line data, we found a decreasing trend in the virial parameter with decreasing scales from filaments to clumps, and then to cores. The virial parameters of $0.1-1.3$ in cores, indicate that cores are likely undergoing dynamical collapse. The cumulative Core Mass Function (CMF) for the prestellar cores candidates has a power law index of $\alpha=1.6$, with masses ranging from 1.5 to 22 $M_\odot$. We find no massive prestellar or protostellar cores. Previous studies suggest that massive O-tpye stars have not been produced yet in this region. Therefore, high-mass stars should be formed in the prestellar cores by accreting a significant amount of gas from the surrounding medium. Another possibility is that low-mass YSOs become massive by accreting from their parent cores that are fed by filaments. These two possibilities might be consistent with the scenario of global hierarchical collapse., Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in ApJ

We present studies of a massive protocluster AFGL5142 in the J=2-1 transition of the CO isotopologues, SO, CH_3OH and CH_3CN lines, as well as continuum at 225 GHz and 8.4 GHz. The 225 GHz continuum emission reveals three prominent peaks MM-1, MM-2 and MM-3. MM-1 and MM-2 are associated with strong CH_3CN emission with temperatures of 90 \pm 20 and 250 \pm 40 K, respectively, while both MM-1 and MM-3 are associated with faint continuum emission at 8.4 GHz. Additional dust continuum peaks MM-4 and MM-5 appear to be associated with \h2O masers. With many continuum sources at cm and mm wavelengths, and those already identified in the infrared, this region is forming a cluster of stars. The CO and SO emission reveals at least three molecular outflows originating from the center of the dust core. The outflows are well collimated, with terminal velocities up to 50 \kms-1 from the cloud velocity. Outflow A coincides with the SiO jet identified previously by Hunter et al. (1999). Since jet-like outflows and disk-mediated accretion process are physically connected, the well collimated outflows indicate that even in this cluster environment, accretion is responsible for the formation of individual stars in the cluster., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ

For the first time, using the Submillimeter Array, H2CS emission was observed to show a typical bipolar outflow morphology toward DR21(OH). The emission consisted of a strong concentration toward a hot molecular core (MM1a) and a symmetrically extended feature aligned roughly in the north-south direction. H2CS is one of the hot core species, and its extended emission is expected to result from the interaction between the outflow of MM1a and the dense ambient gas. We derive H2CS column densities of ~3 × 1015 cm–2 and ~1 × 1015 cm–2 toward MM1a and the centers of the extended emission, respectively. Its fractional abundance, f (H2CS) ~ 10–9 relative to the total H2 abundance, is comparable to those in other star-forming regions, suggesting that H2CS may be present in a region closer to the center than previously thought. Our results suggest that the observed H2CS emission arises via direct evaporation or sputtering of the solid H2CS on the grain surface, and H2CS may be one of the major sulfur-bearing species residing in the ice grain mantles in a solid form, at least in the case of DR21(OH).