On the Magnetic Field Properties of Protostellar Envelopes in Orion

Abstract

We present 870 μ m polarimetric observations toward 61 protostars in the Orion molecular clouds with ∼400 au (1″) resolution using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. We successfully detect dust polarization and outflow emission in 56 protostars; in 16 of them the polarization is likely produced by self-scattering. Self-scattering signatures are seen in several Class 0 sources, suggesting that grain growth appears to be significant in disks at earlier protostellar phases. For the rest of the protostars, the dust polarization traces the magnetic field, whose morphology can be approximately classified into three categories: standard-hourglass, rotated-hourglass (with its axis perpendicular to outflow), and spiral-like morphology. A total of 40.0% (±3.0%) of the protostars exhibit a mean magnetic field direction approximately perpendicular to the outflow on several × 10 ^2 –10 ^3 au scales. However, in the remaining sample, this relative orientation appears to be random, probably due to the complex set of morphologies observed. Furthermore, we classify the protostars into three types based on the C ^17 O (3–2) velocity envelope’s gradient: perpendicular to outflow, nonperpendicular to outflow, and unresolved gradient (≲1.0 km s ^−1 arcsec ^−1 ). In protostars with a velocity gradient perpendicular to outflow, the magnetic field lines are preferentially perpendicular to outflow, with most of them exhibiting a rotated hourglass morphology, suggesting that the magnetic field has been overwhelmed by gravity and angular momentum. Spiral-like magnetic fields are associated with envelopes having large velocity gradients, indicating that the rotation motions are strong enough to twist the field lines. All of the protostars with a standard-hourglass field morphology show no significant velocity gradient due to the strong magnetic braking.

Keywords

• Star formation
• Magnetic fields
• Protostars