SCYON Abstract

Received on June 13 2007

Near-Infrared Polarimetry of the Eagle Nebula (M16)

AuthorsKoji Sugitani (1), Makoto Watanabe (2), Motohide Tamura (3), Ryo Kandori (3), J.H. Hough (4), Shogo Nishiyama (3), Yasushi Nakajima (3), Nobuhiko Kusakabe (5), Jun Hashimoto (1,6), Takahiro Nagayama (7), Chie Nagashima (8), Daisuke Kato (8), and Naoya Fukuda (9)
Affiliation(1) Graduate School of Natural Sciences, Nagoya City University, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8501, Japan
(2) Subaru Telescope, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Hilo, HI 96720, USA
(3) National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan
(4) Center for Astrophysics Research, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Herts AL10 9AB, UK
(5) Graduate University of Advanced Science, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan
(6) Department of Astrophysics, Tokyo University of Science, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8601, Japan
(7) Department of Astrophysics, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
(8) Department of Astrophysics, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan
(9) Department of Computer Simulation, Okayama University of Science, Okayama 700-0005, Japan
Accepted byPublication of the ASJ
Contactsugitani@nsc.nagoya-cu.ac.jp
URLhttp://arxiv.org/abs/0706.1626
Links NGC 6611

Abstract

We carried out deep and wide (about 8' x 8') JHKs imaging polarimetry in the southern region of the Eagle Nebula (M16). The polarization intensity map reveals that two YSOs with near-IR reflection nebulae are located at the tips of two famous molecular pillars (Pillars 1 and 2) facing toward the exciting stars of M16. The centrosymmetric polarization pattern are consistent with those around class I objects having circumstellar envelopes, confirming that star formation is now taking place at the two tips of the pillars under the influence of UV radiation from the exciting stars. Polarization measurements of point sources show that magnetic fields are aligned along some of the pillars but in a direction that is quite different to the global structure in M16.