Mapping magnetic fields from clouds to cores with PRIMAger
Abstract
High-resolution, wide-area mapping of magnetic field geometries within molecular clouds, including the star-forming filaments and cores within them, is crucial to understanding the role of magnetic fields in the star formation process. We, therefore, propose an unbiased survey of star-forming molecular clouds within 0.5 kpc of the Earth in polarized light with the PRIMAger Polarimetry Imager. We will map magnetic fields over entire molecular clouds at linear resolutions of ∼10−3 to 10−2 pc (∼103 to 104 au) in PRIMAger Bands PPI1 to PPI4, thereby resolving magnetic field structure both within individual star-forming filaments and cores and in the most diffuse regions of molecular clouds. These multiwavelength polarimetric observations will allow us to systematically investigate both the wide range of open questions about the role of magnetic fields in star formation and the evolution of the interstellar medium, and interstellar dust grain properties. The time required to map the area observed by the Herschel Gould Belt Survey (160 deg2) to the cirrus confusion limit in polarized light is 170 h. This will give a 5-σ detection of 20% polarized low-density cirrus emission, with surface brightness in polarized intensity of 1.0 to 2.4 MJy/sr across the PRIMAger bands, and will ensure detection of polarized emission at all higher column densities. This time estimate can be simply scaled up to map magnetic fields in a larger sample of molecular clouds, including more distant regions of higher-mass star formation.
Related
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BibTeX
@article{pattle2026mapping,
title = {{Mapping magnetic fields from clouds to cores with PRIMAger}},
author = {Kate Pattle and Janik Karoly and Lorna Buhil Findlay and Simon Coudé and Brandon S. Hensley and Paulo C. Cortes and James Di Francesco and Valentin J.M. Le Gouellec and Enrique Lopez-Rodriguez and Fabien Louvet},
journal = {Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1117/1.jatis.11.3.031615},
eprint = {2509.01796},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05847879v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Mapping magnetic fields from clouds to cores with PRIMAger
AU - Kate Pattle
AU - Janik Karoly
AU - Lorna Buhil Findlay
AU - Simon Coudé
AU - Brandon S. Hensley
AU - Paulo C. Cortes
AU - James Di Francesco
AU - Valentin J.M. Le Gouellec
AU - Enrique Lopez-Rodriguez
AU - Fabien Louvet
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/02
JO - Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems
DO - 10.1117/1.jatis.11.3.031615
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05847879v1
AB - High-resolution, wide-area mapping of magnetic field geometries within molecular clouds, including the star-forming filaments and cores within them, is crucial to understanding the role of magnetic fields in the star formation process. We, therefore, propose an unbiased survey of star-forming molecular clouds within 0.5 kpc of the Earth in polarized light with the PRIMAger Polarimetry Imager. We will map magnetic fields over entire molecular clouds at linear resolutions of ∼10−3 to 10−2 pc (∼103 to 104 au) in PRIMAger Bands PPI1 to PPI4, thereby resolving magnetic field structure both within individual star-forming filaments and cores and in the most diffuse regions of molecular clouds. These multiwavelength polarimetric observations will allow us to systematically investigate both the wide range of open questions about the role of magnetic fields in star formation and the evolution of the interstellar medium, and interstellar dust grain properties. The time required to map the area observed by the Herschel Gould Belt Survey (160 deg2) to the cirrus confusion limit in polarized light is 170 h. This will give a 5-σ detection of 20% polarized low-density cirrus emission, with surface brightness in polarized intensity of 1.0 to 2.4 MJy/sr across the PRIMAger bands, and will ensure detection of polarized emission at all higher column densities. This time estimate can be simply scaled up to map magnetic fields in a larger sample of molecular clouds, including more distant regions of higher-mass star formation.
ER -