A Review of Maser Polarization and Magnetic Fields

TL;DR

This review summarizes recent advances in maser polarization observations, highlighting their role in probing magnetic fields across various astronomical environments and discussing their implications for understanding astrophysical processes.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of recent maser polarization studies and their applications in measuring magnetic fields in diverse cosmic settings.

Findings

Maser polarization reveals magnetic field strength and structure in evolved star envelopes.

Recent observations have mapped magnetic fields in star-forming regions and supernova remnants.

Maser studies have extended to measuring magnetic fields in megamaser galaxies.

Abstract

Through polarization observations masers are unique probes of the magnetic field in a variety of different astronomical objects, with the different maser species tracing different physical conditions. In recent years maser polarization observations have provided insights in the magnetic field strength and morphology in, among others, the envelopes around evolved stars, Planetary Nebulae (PNe), massive star forming regions and supernova remnants. More recently, maser observations have even been used to determine the magnetic field in megamaser galaxies. This review will present an overview of maser polarization observations and magnetic field determinations of the last several years and discuss the implications of the magnetic field measurements for several important fields of study, such as aspherical PNe creation and massive star formation.