The magnetic field in M16: new results from the JCMT BISTRO survey
Abstract
We present a study of the magnetic field (B-field) in the Eagle Nebula (M16) using data from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) B-fields In STar-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey. We extend our previous study of the well-known `Pillars of Creation' region of the nebula to study two other structures in the region, the `Spire' and the bright-rimmed cloud (BRC) known as `SFO30'. These structures show similar B-field morphologies to the Pillars. We calculate B-field strengths using the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi (DCF) method and thereby estimate the magnetic potential energy in each of these regions for comparison with the local gravitational, turbulent and thermal energies, as well as the pressure energy of the shocks from nearby O-type stars. We find approximate equipartition between the energies supporting the regions and those tending towards collapse, with the B-field support playing a significant role. This agrees with our earlier hypothesis that B-fields help support pillar-like structures in molecular clouds and make them longer-lived than they would otherwise have been.
Versions
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BibTeX
@misc{tulloh2026magnetic,
title = {{The magnetic field in M16: new results from the JCMT BISTRO survey}},
author = {R. M. R. Tulloh and D. Ward-Thompson and J. Karoly and J. M. Kirk and K. Pattle},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.09913},
eprint = {2609.09913},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.09913},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - The magnetic field in M16: new results from the JCMT BISTRO survey
AU - R. M. R. Tulloh
AU - D. Ward-Thompson
AU - J. Karoly
AU - J. M. Kirk
AU - K. Pattle
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/09
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.09913
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.09913
AB - We present a study of the magnetic field (B-field) in the Eagle Nebula (M16) using data from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) B-fields In STar-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey. We extend our previous study of the well-known `Pillars of Creation' region of the nebula to study two other structures in the region, the `Spire' and the bright-rimmed cloud (BRC) known as `SFO30'. These structures show similar B-field morphologies to the Pillars. We calculate B-field strengths using the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi (DCF) method and thereby estimate the magnetic potential energy in each of these regions for comparison with the local gravitational, turbulent and thermal energies, as well as the pressure energy of the shocks from nearby O-type stars. We find approximate equipartition between the energies supporting the regions and those tending towards collapse, with the B-field support playing a significant role. This agrees with our earlier hypothesis that B-fields help support pillar-like structures in molecular clouds and make them longer-lived than they would otherwise have been.
ER -