SF-03-0034

Magnetic fields of the star-forming region L1448 revealed by JCMT

HyoSung Kim, Woojin Kwon, Youngwoo Choi, Ian W. Stephens, Leslie W. Looney

We present results of the polarization observations toward the L1448 star-forming region in the Perseus molecular cloud carried out by the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) with SCUBA-2 and POL-2 at 850 micro-meter. We study the relationship between the magnetic field inferred by the dust polarization orientations and the filamentary structure of the target region and find that the overall field is perpendicular to the filamentary structure. We also study the relationship between polarization fractions and intensities using the power-law and the Rice distribution fittings in three core regions (L1448 C, L1448 IRS 2, and L1448 IRS 3) and the filamentary tructure. Polarization fractions overall decrease with intensities, but the slope appears to be shallower in L1448 IRS 3 compared to the other core regions. In addition, we calculate the magnetic field strengths of the three core and filament regions using the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi (DCF) method and compare the magnetic field energy densities with turbulence and gravity.