# Magnetic stability of massive star forming clumps in RCW 106

## TL;DR

This study investigates the magnetic field structure and stability of star-forming clumps in the RCW 106 complex, revealing that massive star-forming clumps are generally magnetically and gravitationally unstable, influencing star formation processes.

## Contribution

It provides new measurements of magnetic field strength in 71 clumps and introduces a novel criterion for identifying massive star-forming clumps based on magnetic stability.

## Key findings

- Massive star-forming clumps are magnetically unstable.
- Magnetic field strength ranges from 100 to 1600 μG.
- A new criterion for selecting star-forming clumps is proposed.

## Abstract

The RCW 106 molecular cloud complex is an active massive star-forming region where a ministarburst is taking place. We examined its magnetic structure by near-IR polarimetric observations with the imaging polarimeter SIRPOL on the IRSF 1.4 m telescope. The global magnetic field is nearly parallel to the direction of the Galactic plane and the cloud elongation. We derived the magnetic field strength of $\sim100$-$1600~\mu$G for 71 clumps with the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method. We also evaluated the magnetic stability of these clumps and found massive star-forming clumps tend to be magnetically unstable and gravitationally unstable. Therefore, we propose a new criterion to search for massive star-forming clumps. These details suggest that the process enhancing the clump density without an increase of the magnetic flux is essential for the formation of massive stars and the necessity for accreting mass along the magnetic field lines.