Far-Infrared Polarization Spectrum of the OMC-1 Star-Forming Region

TL;DR

This study investigates how the far-infrared polarization spectrum varies across the OMC-1 star-forming region, revealing correlations with temperature and supporting grain alignment theories.

Contribution

It provides new observational evidence of polarization spectrum variability and its relation to temperature, extending previous findings to a different star-forming region.

Findings

Polarization spectrum shape varies across the cloud.

Negative slope correlates with cooler regions.

No clear correlation with column density.

Abstract

We analyze the wavelength dependence of the far-infrared polarization fraction toward the OMC-1 star forming region using observations from HAWC+/SOFIA at 53, 89, 154, and 214 $\mu$m. We find that the shape of the far-infrared polarization spectrum is variable across the cloud and that there is evidence of a correlation between the slope of the polarization spectrum and the average line-of-sight temperature. The slope of the polarization spectrum tends to be negative (falling toward longer wavelengths) in cooler regions and positive or flat in warmer regions. This is very similar to what was discovered in $\rho$ Oph A via SOFIA polarimetry at 89 and 154 $\mu$m. Like the authors of this earlier work, we argue that the most natural explanation for our falling spectra is line-of-sight superposition of differing grain populations, with polarized emission from the warmer regions and less-polarized emission from the cooler ones. In contrast with the earlier work on $\rho$ Oph A, we do not find a clear correlation of polarization spectrum slope with column density. This suggests that falling spectra are attributable to variations in grain alignment efficiency in a heterogeneous cloud consistent with radiative torques theory. Alternative explanations in which variations in grain alignment efficiency are caused by varying gas density rather than by varying radiation intensity are disfavored.