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Observation of Toroidal Magnetic Fields on 100 pc Scales in the Galactic Center
Author(s) -
Novak G.,
Chuss D. T.,
Dotson J. L.,
Griffin G. S.,
Loewenstein R. F.,
Newcomb M. G.,
Pernic D.,
Peterson J. B.,
Renbarger T.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
astronomische nachrichten
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.394
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1521-3994
pISSN - 0004-6337
DOI - 10.1002/asna.200385078
Subject(s) - physics , galactic center , faraday effect , polarimeter , sky , polarimetry , astrophysics , magnetic field , astronomy , toroid , faraday cage , center (category theory) , stars , optics , plasma , chemistry , quantum mechanics , scattering , crystallography
We present new submillimeter polarimetric observations of the Galactic center region, made using the SPARO polarimeter that operates at the South Pole. Compared with previous submillimeter polarimetry of this region, our measurements cover much more sky area, and they imply that the molecular gas in the central few hundred pc is threaded by a large scale toroidal magnetic field. We consider this result together with radio observations that show evidence for poloidal fields in the Galactic center, and with Faraday rotation observations. We compare all of these observations with a magnetodynamic model for the Galactic center.