Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Ransom, R. R
• Uyanker, B
• Kothes, R
• Landecker, T. L

Titel

Probing the Magnetized Interstellar Medium Surrounding the Planetary Nebula Sh 2-216

Ist Teil von

• The Astrophysical journal, 2008-09, Vol.684 (2), p.1009-1017

Ort / Verlag

Chicago, IL: IOP Publishing

Erscheinungsjahr

2008

Quelle

EZB-FREE-00999 freely available EZB journals

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• We present 1420 MHz polarization images of a [image] region around the planetary nebula (PN) Sh 2-216. The images are taken from the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey (CGPS). An arc of low polarized intensity (size [image]) appears prominently in the northeast portion of the visible disk of Sh 2-216, coincident with the optically identified interaction region between the PN and the interstellar medium (ISM). The arc contains structural variations down to the [image]1 super([image] ) resolution limit in both polarized intensity and polarization angle. Several polarization-angle 'knots' appear along the arc. By comparison of the polarization angles at the centers of the knots and the mean polarization angle outside Sh 2-216, we estimate the rotation measure (RM) through the knots to be -43 +/- 10 rad m super(-2). Using this estimate for the RM and an estimate of the electron density in the shell of Sh 2-216, we derive a line-of-sight magnetic field in the interaction region of [image]. We believe it more likely the observed magnetic field is interstellar than stellar, although we cannot completely dismiss the latter possibility. We interpret our observations via a simple model which describes the ISM magnetic field around Sh 2-216, and comment on the potential use of old PNe as probes of the magnetized ISM.