The magnetic field in the Flame nebula^★

¹ LERMA, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, 75014 Paris, France
e-mail: astro.beslijica@gmail.com
² Department of Earth, Environment, and Physics, Worcester State University, Worcester, MA 01602, USA
³ Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
⁴ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
⁵ IRAM, 300 rue de la Piscine, 38406 Saint Martin d’Hères, France
⁶ Université de Toulon, Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, IM2NP, Toulon, France
⁷ IRAP, CNRS, Université de Toulouse, 9 avenue du Colonel Roche, 31028 Toulouse Cedex 4, France
⁸ Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, GIPSA-lab, Grenoble INP, Grenoble 38000, France
⁹ Instituto de Física Fundamental (CSIC), Calle Serrano 121–123, 28006 Madrid, Spain
¹⁰ Laboratoire de Physique de l’ENS, ENS, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité, Observatoire de Paris, 75005 Paris, France
¹¹ Cardiff Hub for Astrophysics Research & Technology, School of Physics & Astronomy, Cardiff University, Queens Buildings, The parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, UK
¹² Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale, 91405 Orsay, France

Received: 24 October 2023
Accepted: 20 January 2024

Abstract

Context. Star formation drives the evolution of galaxies and the cycling of matter between different phases of the interstellar medium and stars. The support of interstellar clouds against gravitational collapse by magnetic fields has been proposed as a possible explanation for the low observed star formation efficiency in galaxies and the Milky Way. The Planck satellite provided the first all-sky map of the magnetic field geometry in the diffuse interstellar medium on angular scales of 5–15′. However, higher spatial resolution observations are required to understand the transition from diffuse, subcritical gas to dense, gravitationally unstable filaments.

Aims. NGC 2024, also known as the Flame nebula, is located in the nearby Orion B molecular cloud. It contains a young, expanding H II region and a dense supercritical filament. This filament harbors embedded protostellar objects and is likely not supported by the magnetic field against gravitational collapse. Therefore, NGC 2024 provides an excellent opportunity to study the role of magnetic fields in the formation, evolution, and collapse of dense filaments, the dynamics of young H II regions, and the effects of mechanical and radiative feedback from massive stars on the surrounding molecular gas.

Methods. We combined new 154 and 216 μm dust polarization measurements carried out using the HAWC+ instrument aboard SOFIA with molecular line observations of ¹²CN(1−0) and HCO⁺(1−0) from the IRAM 30-m telescope to determine the magnetic field geometry, and to estimate the plane of the sky magnetic field strength across the NGC 2024 H II region and the surrounding molecular cloud.

Results. The HAWC+ observations show an ordered magnetic field geometry in NGC 2024 that follows the morphology of the expanding H II region and the direction of the main dense filament. The derived plane of the sky magnetic field strength is moderate, ranging from 30 to 80 μG. The strongest magnetic field is found at the eastern edge of the H II region, characterized by the highest gas densities and molecular line widths. In contrast, the weakest field is found toward the main, dense filament in NGC 2024.

Conclusions. We find that the magnetic field has a non-negligible influence on the gas stability at the edges of the expanding H II shell (gas impacted by stellar feedback) and the filament (site of current star formation).