L1448 IRS3B: Dust Polarization Aligned with Spiral Features, Tracing Gas Flows
Circumstellar disk dust polarization in the (sub)millimeter is, for the most part, not from dust grain alignment with magnetic fields but rather indicative of a combination of dust self-scattering with a yet unknown alignment mechanism that is consistent with mechanical alignment. While the observat...
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2025-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adcb9f |
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| author | Leslie W. Looney Zhe-Yu Daniel Lin Zhi-Yun Li John J. Tobin Martin Radecki Syzygy Butte Ian W. Stephens Manuel Fernández-López Haifeng Yang Nickalas K. Reynolds Patrick Sheehan Woojin Kwon Rachel Harrison Allen North |
| author_facet | Leslie W. Looney Zhe-Yu Daniel Lin Zhi-Yun Li John J. Tobin Martin Radecki Syzygy Butte Ian W. Stephens Manuel Fernández-López Haifeng Yang Nickalas K. Reynolds Patrick Sheehan Woojin Kwon Rachel Harrison Allen North |
| author_sort | Leslie W. Looney |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Circumstellar disk dust polarization in the (sub)millimeter is, for the most part, not from dust grain alignment with magnetic fields but rather indicative of a combination of dust self-scattering with a yet unknown alignment mechanism that is consistent with mechanical alignment. While the observational evidence for scattering has been well established, that for mechanical alignment is less so. Circum-multiple dust structures in protostellar systems provide a unique environment to probe different polarization alignment mechanisms. We present ALMA Band 4 and Band 7 polarization observations toward the multiple young system L1448 IRS3B. The polarization in the two bands are consistent with each other, presenting multiple polarization morphologies. On the size scale of the inner envelope surrounding the circum-multiple disk, the polarization is consistent with magnetic field dust grain alignment. On the very small scale of compact circumstellar regions, we see polarization that is consistent with scattering around source a and c , which are likely the most optically thick components. Finally, we see polarization that is consistent with mechanical alignment of dust grains along the spiral dust structures, which would suggest that the dust is tracing the relative gas flow along the spiral arms. If the gas-flow dust grain alignment mechanism is dominant in these cases, disk dust polarization may provide a direct probe of the small-scale kinematics of the gas flow relative to the dust grains. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-bd684846d07e45d2ade8fbf921edbd7f |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-bd684846d07e45d2ade8fbf921edbd7f2025-08-20T01:52:38ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-01985214810.3847/1538-4357/adcb9fL1448 IRS3B: Dust Polarization Aligned with Spiral Features, Tracing Gas FlowsLeslie W. Looney0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4540-6587Zhe-Yu Daniel Lin1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7233-4171Zhi-Yun Li2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7402-6487John J. Tobin3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6195-0152Martin Radecki4Syzygy Butte5https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0002-3723Ian W. Stephens6https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3017-4418Manuel Fernández-López7https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5811-0454Haifeng Yang8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8537-6669Nickalas K. Reynolds9https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9239-6422Patrick Sheehan10https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9209-8708Woojin Kwon11https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4022-4132Rachel Harrison12https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2118-4999Allen North13https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9409-6686Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois , 1002 West Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801, USA ; lwl@illinois.edu; National Radio Astronomy Observatory , 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USAUniversity of Virginia , 530 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA; Earth and Planets Laboratory , Carnegie Institution for Science, 5241 Broad Branch Road NW, Washington, DC 20015, USAUniversity of Virginia , 530 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA; Virginia Institute of Theoretical Astronomy, University of Virginia , Charlottesville, VA 22904, USANational Radio Astronomy Observatory , 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USADepartment of Astronomy, University of Illinois , 1002 West Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801, USA ; lwl@illinois.eduDepartment of Astronomy, University of Illinois , 1002 West Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801, USA ; lwl@illinois.eduDepartment of Earth, Environment, and Physics, Worcester State University , Worcester, MA 01602, USAInstituto Argentino de Radioastronomía , CCT-La Plata (CONICET), C.C.5, 1894, Villa Elisa, ArgentinaInstitute for Astronomy, School of Physics, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou, 310027 Zhejiang, People’s Republic of ChinaHomer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Oklahoma , 440 W Brooks Street, Norman, OK 73019, USANational Radio Astronomy Observatory , 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USADepartment of Earth Science Education, Seoul National University , 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; SNU Astronomy Research Center, Seoul National University , 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; The Center for Educational Research, Seoul National University , 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Republic of KoreaSchool of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University , Clayton VIC 3800, AustraliaDepartment of Astronomy, University of Illinois , 1002 West Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801, USA ; lwl@illinois.eduCircumstellar disk dust polarization in the (sub)millimeter is, for the most part, not from dust grain alignment with magnetic fields but rather indicative of a combination of dust self-scattering with a yet unknown alignment mechanism that is consistent with mechanical alignment. While the observational evidence for scattering has been well established, that for mechanical alignment is less so. Circum-multiple dust structures in protostellar systems provide a unique environment to probe different polarization alignment mechanisms. We present ALMA Band 4 and Band 7 polarization observations toward the multiple young system L1448 IRS3B. The polarization in the two bands are consistent with each other, presenting multiple polarization morphologies. On the size scale of the inner envelope surrounding the circum-multiple disk, the polarization is consistent with magnetic field dust grain alignment. On the very small scale of compact circumstellar regions, we see polarization that is consistent with scattering around source a and c , which are likely the most optically thick components. Finally, we see polarization that is consistent with mechanical alignment of dust grains along the spiral dust structures, which would suggest that the dust is tracing the relative gas flow along the spiral arms. If the gas-flow dust grain alignment mechanism is dominant in these cases, disk dust polarization may provide a direct probe of the small-scale kinematics of the gas flow relative to the dust grains.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adcb9fCircumstellar disksProtostars |
| spellingShingle | Leslie W. Looney Zhe-Yu Daniel Lin Zhi-Yun Li John J. Tobin Martin Radecki Syzygy Butte Ian W. Stephens Manuel Fernández-López Haifeng Yang Nickalas K. Reynolds Patrick Sheehan Woojin Kwon Rachel Harrison Allen North L1448 IRS3B: Dust Polarization Aligned with Spiral Features, Tracing Gas Flows The Astrophysical Journal Circumstellar disks Protostars |
| title | L1448 IRS3B: Dust Polarization Aligned with Spiral Features, Tracing Gas Flows |
| title_full | L1448 IRS3B: Dust Polarization Aligned with Spiral Features, Tracing Gas Flows |
| title_fullStr | L1448 IRS3B: Dust Polarization Aligned with Spiral Features, Tracing Gas Flows |
| title_full_unstemmed | L1448 IRS3B: Dust Polarization Aligned with Spiral Features, Tracing Gas Flows |
| title_short | L1448 IRS3B: Dust Polarization Aligned with Spiral Features, Tracing Gas Flows |
| title_sort | l1448 irs3b dust polarization aligned with spiral features tracing gas flows |
| topic | Circumstellar disks Protostars |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adcb9f |
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