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Updated: Apr 26, 2026

A 100 KW Class Applied-field Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster
Published on: December 22, 2018
Evidence for the gravity-driven and magnetically regularized gas flows feeding the massive protostellar cluster in
Panigrahy Sandhyarani1, Chakali Eswaraiah1,2, Di Li3
1Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Tirupati, Yerpedu, Tirupati 517619, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Abstract:
The hierarchical interplay among gravity, magnetic fields, and turbulence in forming massive protostellar clusters remains elusive. We present high-resolution (~14 arc seconds ≃ 0.05 parsecs), 850-micrometer dust polarization and C18O line observations of Cepheus A using JCMT SCUBA-2/POL-2 and HARP. Our analysis reveals aligned gravitational (G), magnetic (B), and velocity fields (K), with an energy hierarchy of [Formula: see text]. Gravity, as the primary driver, induces gas flows and drags in B-field lines. Magnetic tension, as a secondary force, regulates turbulence, enabling ordered flows with an accretion rate of ~2.1 ± 0.4 × 10-4 M⊙ per year. This challenges the conventional view of B-fields resisting collapse in the clump/hub scale, instead showing cooperation with gravity. The ~0.6-parsec clump-scale B-field (with a mean position angle of ~45°) aligns coherently with fields at cloud (~5 parsecs), core (~0.05 parsecs), and disk (~2000 astronomical units) scales, offering key insights into the role of magnetic fields in multiscale star formation dynamics.
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