Oral Presentation
A Polarized View of the Central Molecular Zone at Submillimeter Wavelengths
Presenter: Janik Karoly (University College London)
The BISTRO large program at the JCMT mapped the Central Molecular Zone from Sgr C to Sgr B2 in 850um polarized dust emission at a resolution of ~0.5pc. The magnetic field inferred from this polarized dust is highly ordered within the individual molecular clouds. There is an overall trend of magnetic fields on the order of mG in these molecular clouds, which give roughly transcritical mass-to-flux ratios and Alfvenic mach numbers, suggesting magnetic fields may play an important role in providing general support against star-formation. We also find that the magnetic field is strongly preferentially aligned with observationally derived orbital gas flows within the clouds of the CMZ. The observed preferentially aligned magnetic field leads us to hypothesize that in the absence of star formation, the magnetic field in the CMZ is entrained in the orbital gas flows around Sgr A*, while gravitational collapse and feedback in star-forming regions can locally reorder the field.
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