| Name: Sanchali Nath Mazumdar |
| Affiliation: Dept of Physics, Assam University, Silchar |
| Conference ID: ASI2026_571 |
| Title: On the Magnetic Field Structure and Dust Properties of the Molecular Clouds L1578 and L1607 |
| Abstract Type: Poster |
| Abstract Category: Stars, Interstellar Medium, and Astrochemistry in Milky Way |
| Author(s) and Co-Author(s) with Affiliation: Sanchali Nath Mazumdar(Department of Physics, Assam University, Silchar, 788011, India), Himadri Sekhar Das(Department of Physics, Assam University, Silchar, 788011, India) |
| Abstract: Molecular clouds are the principal sites of star formation, and their evolution is strongly influenced by magnetic fields. Consequently, investigating magnetic field morphology is essential for understanding star formation processes. The magnetic field structure in molecular clouds can be traced through measurements of the linear polarization of background starlight passing through the cloud material. In this context, we present an R-band polarimetric study of the dark molecular clouds L1578 and L1607 to examine the magnetic field geometry in their low-density envelope regions. We also evaluate the impact of the Galactic magnetic field on the envelope magnetic field of these clouds and find that the Galactic field dominates in these regions. A deeper understanding of star formation further requires knowledge of the initial physical conditions of molecular clouds, including temperature, density, and dust grain properties. To investigate the dust characteristics, we utilize archival near-infrared data of field stars toward the clouds to construct extinction maps. Additionally, SPIRE observations at 250, 350, and 500 μm from the Herschel data archive are used to derive the temperature and column density distributions. Since accurate distance estimates are crucial for determining key cloud properties and for generating reliable polarization maps, we apply the Near-Infrared Photometric Technique to estimate the distances to the clouds. This yields distances of 1043±36 pc for L1578 and 938±49 pc for L1607. |
