A Study of Magnetic Fields in Interstellar Molecular Clouds

伊利诺伊大学的理查德·克鲁彻博士， 他在肯塔基州大学的同事托马斯特罗兰博士， 将继续一个非常成功的长期计划，以衡量 星际云的磁场强度， 将项目扩展到新的领域。 使用超大型数组 在新墨西哥州，一项重大的努力将是绘制分布图， 中性氢原子和羟基原子谱线塞曼效应 从星际云中。 该项目的另一部分是 谱线塞曼效应的连续观测 用望远镜观测到了乌云中心区域的羟基 位于西弗吉尼亚州的国家射电天文台， 位于波多黎各的国家天文和电离层中心。 磁场强度的单天线测量将 通过观察塞曼效应， CN的3毫米线。 这个实验将允许第一个 时间直接探测磁场强度的关键 在星星形成过程中， 崩溃正在发生。 该观测项目由 该奖项将提供理论研究的基本测试 星际云中的磁场 这项研究将 因此，导致必要的经验框架， 了解磁场在致密物质演化中的作用 星际云和星星的形成。

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.