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SOFIA/HAWC+ Far-Infrared Polarimetric Large Area CMZ Exploration Survey. V. The Magnetic Field Strength and Morphology in the Sagittarius C Complex

Authors :
Zhao, Roy J.
Morris, Mark R.
Chuss, David T.
Paré, Dylan M.
Guerra, Jordan A.
Butterfield, Natalie O.
Wollack, Edward J.
Karpovich, Kaitlyn
Publication Year :
2025

Abstract

We present an analysis of the magnetic field strength and morphology in the Sagittarius C complex (Sgr C; G359.43-0.09) in the Milky Way Galaxy's Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) using the 214 $\mu$m polarimetry data acquired with the High-Angular-Resolution Wideband Camera+ (HAWC+) instrument aboard the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). We use several hundred magnetic field pseudovectors in the Sgr C region to trace the projected magnetic field orientation within cold molecular gas clouds, and as is the trend throughout the CMZ, they show a higher polarization fraction toward the periphery of the clouds. We conduct a modified Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi (DCF) analysis of individual clouds and find that the sky-plane magnetic field strength varies from highly turbulent regions having inferred strengths of $\sim30~\mu{\rm G}$ to regions of relatively uniform field orientation having strengths of $\sim 1~{\rm mG}$. The magnetic field orientations suggest that outflows from active star-forming regions, such as the extended green object (EGO) G359.43-0.10 and the protostellar source FIR-4 (G359.43+0.02), cause high turbulence in their vicinity. The magnetic field direction is found to be tangential to the surface of the Sgr C HII region, as well as two [CII] emission cavities around this region. Several other features in the vicinity of Sgr C, especially numerous non-thermal filaments (NTFs) and a diffuse source of X-ray emission towards the southwest of the \hii{} region, are discussed with regard to the observed magnetic field pseudovectors.<br />Comment: 30 pages, 18 figures. Submitted to ApJ

Details

Database :
arXiv
Publication Type :
Report
Accession number :
edsarx.2502.14961
Document Type :
Working Paper