A Study of Magnetic Fields in Interstellar Molecular Clouds

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Dr. Richard Crutcher, at the University of Illinois, together with his colleague Dr. Thomas Troland, at the University of Kentucky, will continue a very successful long term program to measure magnetic field strengths in interstellar clouds, and they will extend the program into new areas. Using the Very Large Array in New Mexico, a major effort will be made to map the distribution of the Zeeman effect in lines of neutral atomic hydrogen and hydroxyl from interstellar clouds. Another part of the project is to continue survey observations of the Zeeman effect on spectral lines of hydroxyl toward central regions of dark clouds using telescopes at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in West Virginia and at the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center in Puerto Rico. Single-antenna measurements of magnetic field strengths will be extended to denser regions by observations of the Zeeman effect in the 3-mm lines of CN. This experiment will allow for the first time direct probing of magnetic field strengths at the crucial stage in the star formation process when core fragmentation and collapse are taking place. The observational program supported by this award will provide fundamental tests of theoretical studies of magnetic fields in interstellar clouds. This research will therefore lead to the essential empirical framework for understanding the role of magnetic fields in the evolution of dense interstellar clouds and in star formation.