Issue |
A&A
Volume 540, April 2012
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | L3 | |
Number of page(s) | 5 | |
Section | Letters | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201218897 | |
Published online | 27 March 2012 |
Polarization of thermal molecular lines in the envelope of IK Tauri⋆
1 Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Chalmers University of Technology, Onsala Space Observatory, 439 92 Onsala, Sweden
e-mail: wouter.vlemmings@chalmers.se
2 Argelander Institute für Astronomie, Universität Bonn, Auf dem Hügel 71, 53121 Bonn, Germany
3 Submillimeter Array, Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 645 N. Aohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720, USA
4 European Southern Observatory, Karl Schwarzschild Str. 2, 85748 Garching bei München, Germany
Received: 27 January 2012
Accepted: 12 March 2012
Molecular line polarization is a unique source of information about the magnetic fields and anisotropies in the circumstellar envelopes of evolved stars. Here we present the first detection of thermal CO(J = 2 → 1) and SiO(J = 5 → 4, ν = 0) polarization, in the envelope of the asymptotic giant branch star IK Tau. The observed polarization direction does not match predictions for circumstellar envelope polarization induced only by an anisotropic radiation field. Assuming that the polarization is purely due to the Goldreich-Kylafis effect, the linear polarization direction is defined by the magnetic field as even the small Zeeman splitting of CO and SiO dominates the molecular collisional and spontaneous emission rates. The polarization was mapped using the Submillimeter Array (SMA) and is predominantly north-south. There is close agreement between the CO and SiO observations, even though the CO polarization arises in the circumstellar envelope at ~800 AU and the SiO polarization at ≲ 250 AU. If the polarization indeed traces the magnetic field, we can thus conclude that it maintains a large-scale structure throughout the circumstellar envelope. We propose that the magnetic field, oriented either east-west or north-south is responsible for the east-west elongation of the CO distribution and asymmetries in the dust envelope. In the future, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array will be able to map the magnetic field using CO polarization for a large number of evolved stars.
Key words: stars: AGB and post-AGB / magnetic fields / polarization / submillimeter: stars
Figure 3 is available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org
© ESO, 2012
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