GTC/CanariCam Mid-IR Polarimetry of Magnetic Fields in Star-Forming Region W51 IRS2

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution mid-infrared polarimetry to analyze magnetic field structures in the star-forming region W51 IRS2, revealing complex magnetic morphologies and their relation to outflows and the ambient field.

Contribution

It provides detailed magnetic field morphologies in W51 IRS2 through mid-IR polarimetry and separates emission and absorption components to understand magnetic field geometry.

Findings

Magnetic fields in foreground and emitting regions show different morphologies.

The magnetic field in the cometary core is linked to a champagne outflow.

Mid-IR and submm polarimetry suggest SMA1/N1 influences the magnetic field structure.

Abstract

We present 0.4 arcsec-resolution imaging polarimetry at 8.7, 10.3, and 12.5 microns, obtained with CanariCam at the Gran Telescopio Canarias, of the central region of W51 IRS2. The polarization, as high as 14 percent, arises from silicate particles aligned by the interstellar magnetic field. We separate, or unfold, the polarization of each sightline into emission and absorption components, from which we infer the morphologies of the corresponding projected magnetic fields that thread the emitting and foreground-absorbing regions. We conclude that the projected magnetic field in the foreground material is part of the larger-scale ambient field. The morphology of the projected magnetic field in the mid-IR emitting region spanning the cometary HII region W51 IRS2W is similar to that in the absorbing region. Elsewhere, the two magnetic fields differ significantly with no clear relationship between them. The magnetic field across the W51 IRS2W cometary core appears to be an integral part of a champagne outflow of gas originating in the core and dominating the energetics there. The bipolar outflow, W51north jet, that appears to originate at or near SMA1/N1 coincides almost exactly with a clearly demarcated north-south swath of lower polarization. While speculative, comparison of mid-IR and submm polarimetry on two different scales may support a picture in which SMA1/N1 plays a major role in the magnetic field structure across W51 IRS2.