Letter to the Editor

Local Bubble contribution to the 353-GHz dust polarized emission

¹ Department of Physics, Univ. of Crete, Heraklion 70013, Greece
e-mail: rskalidis@physics.uoc.gr
² Institute of Astrophysics, FORTH, Heraklion 71110, Greece
e-mail: pelgrims@physics.uoc.gr

Received: 22 August 2019
Accepted: 21 October 2019

Abstract

It has not been shown so far whether the diffuse Galactic polarized emission at frequencies relevant for cosmic microwave background (CMB) studies originates from nearby or more distant regions of our Galaxy. This questions previous attempts that have been made to constrain magnetic field models at local and large scales. The scope of this work is to investigate and quantify the contribution of the dusty and magnetized local interstellar medium to the observed emission that is polarized by thermal dust. We used stars as distance candles and probed the line-of-sight submillimeter polarization properties by comparing the emission that is polarized by thermal dust at submillimeter wavelengths and the optical polarization caused by starlight. We provide statistically robust evidence that at high Galactic latitudes (|b| ≥ 60°), the 353 GHz polarized sky as observed by Planck is dominated by a close-by magnetized structure that extends between 200 and 300 pc and coincides with the shell of the Local Bubble. Our result will assist modeling the magnetic field of the Local Bubble and characterizing the CMB Galactic foregrounds.