| Name: | Sandhyarani Panigrahy |
| Affiliation: | Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER) Tiruapti |
| Conference ID : | ASI2024_506 |
| Title : | Magnetically regulated star formation in the massive starforming clump Cep A |
| Authors : | Sandhyarani Panigrahy, Eswaraiah Chakali
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| Authors Affiliation: | Sandhyarani Panigrahy, Eswaraiah Chakali Affiliation (Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER), tirupati |
| Mode of Presentation: | Oral |
| Abstract Category : | Stars, Interstellar Medium, and Astrochemistry in Milky Way |
| Abstract : | To understand the role of magnetic fields in massive star formation, we have conducted sub-mm dust polarization observations with JCMT SCUBA2/POL-2 towards a massive clump, Cep A. From the analysis, we found that the polarization fraction (P) decreases with the μm continuum intensity (I) with an index of α = -0.65± 0.03, indicating a better alignment of dust grains with the magnetic field (B-field). Notably, the dust grain alignment seems to be more pronounced in the direction of the precessing jet originating from the HW2 protostar, owing to the mechanical alignment of dust grains (MAD). The offset angle map of B-field and Gravity suggests a good alignment between magnetic and gravitational fields in the N-S direction, while they mismatch in the E–W direction, likely influenced by outflows originating from the central protostar. We have produced the maps of B-field strength, mass-to-flux ratio criticality (λ), and the Alfvenic-Mach number (MA) for Cep A. These analyses suggested that Cep A is magnetically sub-critical and turbulently sub-Alfvenic. Furthermore, from the sin𝛚 map, we deduced that the uniform B-field acts as a localized agent directing the flow of matter towards the gravitational potential well, facilitating accretion flows from the outskirts to the cloud center, thereby fueling the formation of massive stars. |
