The JCMT BISTRO Survey: The Magnetic Fields of the IC 348 Star-forming Region

TL;DR

This study uses 850 μm polarization observations to analyze magnetic fields in the IC 348 star-forming region, revealing magnetic field orientations, strengths, and their role in core evolution and star formation processes.

Contribution

It provides new measurements of magnetic field properties and their influence on core stability and star formation in IC 348, utilizing polarization data and the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method.

Findings

Magnetic fields are more perpendicular to the filamentary structure.

Evidence of grain growth to micron size in cores.

Different energy balances in cores explain star formation diversity.

Abstract

We present 850 $\mu$m polarization observations of the IC 348 star-forming region in the Perseus molecular cloud as part of the B-fields In STar-forming Region Observation (BISTRO) survey. We study the magnetic properties of two cores (HH 211 MMS and IC 348 MMS) and a filamentary structure of IC 348. We find that the overall field tends to be more perpendicular than parallel to the filamentary structure of the region. The polarization fraction decreases with intensity, and we estimate the trend by power-law and the mean of the Rice distribution fittings. The power indices for the cores are much smaller than 1, indicative of possible grain growth to micron size in the cores. We also measure the magnetic field strengths of the two cores and the filamentary area separately by applying the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method and its alternative version for compressed medium. The estimated mass-to-flux ratios are 0.45-2.20 and 0.63-2.76 for HH 211 MMS and IC 348 MMS, respectively, while the ratios for the filament is 0.33-1.50. This result may suggest that the transition from subcritical to supercritical conditions occurs at the core scale ($\sim$ 0.05 pc) in the region. In addition, we study the energy balance of the cores and find that the relative strength of turbulence to the magnetic field tends to be stronger for IC 348 MMS than HH 211 MMS. The result could potentially explain the different configurations inside the two cores: a single protostellar system in HH 211 MMS and multiple protostars in IC 348 MMS.