SOFIA Far-infrared Imaging Polarimetry of M82 and NGC 253: Exploring the Supergalactic Wind

We present far-infrared polarimetry observations of M82 at 53 and 154 m and NGC 253 at 89 m, which were taken with High-resolution Airborne Wideband Camera-plus (HAWC+) in polarimetry mode on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. The polarization of M82 at 53 m clearly shows a magnet...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Astrophysical journal. Letters 2019-01, Vol.870 (1), p.L9
Main Authors: Jones, Terry Jay, Dowell, C. Darren, Rodriguez, Enrique Lopez, Zweibel, Ellen G., Berthoud, Marc, Chuss, David T., Goldsmith, Paul F., Hamilton, Ryan T., Hanany, Shaul, Harper, Doyal A., Lazarian, Alex, Looney, Leslie W., Michail, Joseph M., Morris, Mark R., Novak, Giles, Santos, Fabio P., Sheth, Kartik, Stacey, Gordon J., Staguhn, Johannes, Stephens, Ian W., Tassis, Konstantinos, Trinh, Christopher Q., Volpert, C. G., Werner, Michael, Wollack, Edward J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astronomical polarimetry
Astronomy
Broadband
Dust
Dust emission
Emission
galaxies: starburst
Geometry
Infrared astronomy
Infrared imaging
instrumentation: polarimeters
Magnetic fields
Outflow
Polarization
Signal to noise ratio
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Summary:We present far-infrared polarimetry observations of M82 at 53 and 154 m and NGC 253 at 89 m, which were taken with High-resolution Airborne Wideband Camera-plus (HAWC+) in polarimetry mode on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. The polarization of M82 at 53 m clearly shows a magnetic field geometry perpendicular to the disk in the hot dust emission. For M82 the polarization at 154 m shows a combination of field geometry perpendicular to the disk in the nuclear region, but closer to parallel to the disk away from the nucleus. The fractional polarization at 53 m (154 m) ranges from 7% (3%) off nucleus to 0.5% (0.3%) near the nucleus. A simple interpretation of the observations of M82 invokes a massive polar outflow, dragging the field along, from a region ∼700 pc in diameter that has entrained some of the gas and dust, creating a vertical field geometry seen mostly in the hotter (53 m) dust emission. This outflow sits within a larger disk with a more typical planar geometry that more strongly contributes to the cooler (154 m) dust emission. For NGC 253, the polarization at 89 m is dominated by a planar geometry in the tilted disk, with weak indication of a vertical geometry above and below the plane from the nucleus. The polarization observations of NGC 253 at 53 m were of a insufficient signal-to-noise ratio for a detailed analysis.
ISSN:2041-8205
2041-8213
DOI:10.3847/2041-8213/aaf8b9