TY - JOUR
T1 - Magnetic field configuration at the galactic center investigated by wide-field near-infrared polarimetry
T2 - transition from a toroidal to a poloidal magnetic field
AU - Nishiyama, S.
AU - Hatano, H.
AU - Tamura, M.
AU - Matsunaga, N.
AU - Yoshikawa, T.
AU - Suenaga, T.
AU - Hough, J.
AU - Sugitani, K.
AU - Nagayama, T.
AU - Kato, D.
AU - Nagata, T.
N1 - Original article can be found at: http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/apjl Copyright American Astronomical Society [Full text of this paper is not available in the UHRA]
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - We present a large-scale view of the magnetic field (MF) in the central 2° × 2° region of our Galaxy. The polarization of point sources has been measured in the J, H, and KS bands using the near-infrared polarimetric camera SIRPOL on the 1.4 m Infrared Survey Facility telescope. Comparing the Stokes parameters between high extinction stars and relatively low extinction ones, we obtain polarization originating from magnetically aligned dust grains in the central few hundred parsecs of our Galaxy. We find that near the Galactic plane, the MF is almost parallel to the Galactic plane (i.e., toroidal configuration), but at high Galactic latitudes (b >04) the field is nearly perpendicular to the plane (i.e., poloidal configuration). This is the first detection of a smooth transition of the large-scale MF configuration in this region. [see original online version for correct notation]
AB - We present a large-scale view of the magnetic field (MF) in the central 2° × 2° region of our Galaxy. The polarization of point sources has been measured in the J, H, and KS bands using the near-infrared polarimetric camera SIRPOL on the 1.4 m Infrared Survey Facility telescope. Comparing the Stokes parameters between high extinction stars and relatively low extinction ones, we obtain polarization originating from magnetically aligned dust grains in the central few hundred parsecs of our Galaxy. We find that near the Galactic plane, the MF is almost parallel to the Galactic plane (i.e., toroidal configuration), but at high Galactic latitudes (b >04) the field is nearly perpendicular to the plane (i.e., poloidal configuration). This is the first detection of a smooth transition of the large-scale MF configuration in this region. [see original online version for correct notation]
U2 - 10.1088/2041-8205/722/1/L23
DO - 10.1088/2041-8205/722/1/L23
M3 - Article
SN - 2041-8213
VL - 722
SP - L23-L27
JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters
JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters
IS - 1
ER -