J/A+A/694/A97 Magnetic field of the Radcliffe Wave (Panopoulou+, 2025)
The magnetic field of the Radcliffe Wave:
Starlight polarization at nearest approach to the Sun.
Panopoulou G.V., Zucker C., Clemens D., Pelgrims V., Soler J.D., Clark S.E.,
Alves J., Goodman A., Becker Tjus J.
<Astron. Astrophys. 694, A97 (2025)>
=2025A&A...694A..97P 2025A&A...694A..97P (SIMBAD/NED BibCode)
ADC_Keywords: Magnetic fields ; Polarization ; Interstellar medium
Keywords: techniques: polarimetric - dust, extinction - ISM: magnetic fields -
ISM: structure - local interstellar matter
Abstract:
We investigate the geometry of the magnetic field towards the
Radcliffe Wave, a coherent 3-kpc-long part of the nearby Local Arm
recently discovered via three-dimensional dust mapping. We use
archival stellar polarization in the optical and new measurements in
the near-infrared to trace the magnetic field as projected on the
plane of the sky. Our new observations cover the portion of the
structure that is closest to the Sun, between Galactic longitudes of
122° and 188°. The polarization angles of stars immediately
background to the Radcliffe Wave appear to be aligned with the
structure as projected on the plane of the sky. The observed magnetic
field configuration is inclined with respect to the Galactic disk at
an angle of 18°. This departure from a geometry parallel to the
plane of the Galaxy is contrary to previous constraints from more
distant stars and polarized dust emission. We confirm that the
polarization angle of stars at larger distances shows a mean
orientation parallel to the Galactic disk. We discuss implications of
the observed morphology of the magnetic field for models of the
large-scale Galactic magnetic field, as well as formation scenarios
for the Radcliffe Wave itself.
Description:
The data table contains the H-band stellar polarization data obtained
with the Mimir polarimeter of the Radcliffe Wave survey. The table
includes all stars with significant signal-to-noise ratio and H-band
brightness <13mag (see Section 2.3.2 of the paper). Distance
measurements are obtained via cross-match to Gaia EDR3 and the
Bailer-Jones et al. (2021AJ....161..147B 2021AJ....161..147B, Cat. I/352) catalog.
File Summary:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ReadMe 80 . This file
catalog.dat 123 477 RW polarization catalogue
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See also:
I/352 : Distances to 1.47 billion stars in Gaia EDR3 (Bailer-Jones+ 2021)
Byte-by-byte Description of file: catalog.dat
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2- 10 F9.6 deg RAdeg Right ascension (ICRS) at Ep=2016.0
13- 21 F9.6 deg DEdeg Declination (ICRS) at Ep=2016.0
24- 28 F5.3 % Pol Degree of polarization
31- 35 F5.3 % e_Pol Uncertainty on Pol
38- 42 F5.1 deg EVPA Polarization angle (1)
45- 48 F4.1 deg e_EVPA Uncertainty on EVPA
51- 56 F6.3 % q q Stokes parameter
59- 63 F5.3 % e_q Uncertainty on q
66- 71 F6.3 % u u Stokes parameter
74- 78 F5.3 % e_u Uncertainty on u
80- 98 I19 --- GaiaEDR3 Gaia EDR3 identifier
101-106 F6.1 pc Dist Star distance (2)
109-114 F6.1 pc b_Dist Distance minimum (2)
117-123 F7.1 pc B_Dist Distance maximum (2)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note (1): Polarization angle and Stokes parameters are measured following the
IAU convention in the equatorial celestial reference frame.
Note (2): Dist corresponds to the median photogeometric distance, rmedphotogeo
b_Dist is the 1-sigma lower limit (rlophotogeo) and B_dist is the
1-sigma upper limit (rhiphotogeo) see Bailer-Jones et al.
(2021AJ....161..147B 2021AJ....161..147B, Cat. I/352) for details.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Acknowledgements:
Georgia Panopoulou, georgia.panopoulou(at)chalmers.se
(End) Patricia Vannier [CDS] 17-Dec-2024