The JCMT BISTRO Survey: A Spiral Magnetic Field in a Hub-filament Structure, Monoceros R2

TL;DR

This study maps the magnetic field in Monoceros R2, revealing a spiral structure with magnetic support against gravity, using polarization data and the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method to estimate field strength and stability.

Contribution

First detailed polarization-based magnetic field mapping of Mon R2's hub-filament structure, demonstrating a spiral magnetic field aligned with filaments and assessing magnetic support.

Findings

Magnetic field strengths range from 0.02 to 3.64 mG with a mean of 1.0 mG.

Magnetic fields are predominantly aligned with filaments and are magnetically sub-critical.

Magnetic pressure exceeds turbulent pressure, indicating magnetic support against collapse.

Abstract

We present and analyze observations of polarized dust emission at 850 $\mu$m towards the central 1 pc $\times$ 1 pc hub-filament structure of Monoceros R2 (Mon R2). The data are obtained with SCUBA-2/POL-2 on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) as part of the BISTRO (B-fields in Star-forming Region Observations) survey. The orientations of the magnetic field follow the spiral structure of Mon R2, which are well-described by an axisymmetric magnetic field model. We estimate the turbulent component of the magnetic field using the angle difference between our observations and the best-fit model of the underlying large-scale mean magnetic field. This estimate is used to calculate the magnetic field strength using the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method, for which we also obtain the distribution of volume density and velocity dispersion using a column density map derived from $Herschel$ data and the C$^{18}$O ($J$ = 3-2) data taken with HARP on the JCMT, respectively. We make maps of magnetic field strengths and mass-to-flux ratios, finding that magnetic field strengths vary from 0.02 to 3.64 mG with a mean value of 1.0 $\pm$ 0.06 mG, and the mean critical mass-to-flux ratio is 0.47 $\pm$ 0.02. Additionally, the mean Alfv\'en Mach number is 0.35 $\pm$ 0.01. This suggests that in Mon R2, magnetic fields provide resistance against large-scale gravitational collapse, and magnetic pressure exceeds turbulent pressure. We also investigate the properties of each filament in Mon R2. Most of the filaments are aligned along the magnetic field direction and are magnetically sub-critical.