Abstract
view Abstract Citations (38) References (8) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS Magnetic braking of self-gravitating, oblate interstellar clouds. Mouschovias, T. Ch. Abstract The efficiency of magnetic braking of a rotating oblate cloud under the combined effects of self-gravity and pressure forces is studied using a simplified approximate cloud model. A characteristic time is determined for the loss of angular momentum by a dense interstellar cloud flattened along the common direction of the magnetic-field and angular-momentum vectors. By properly scaling the magnetic field with the gas density, it is found that the characteristic time depends only on the present cloud temperature and the magnetic-field strength at the time of cloud formation. Application of the result to dark and molecular clouds indicates that a typical dark cloud loses its angular momentum in a characteristic time of 820,000 yr, while a molecular cloud (temperature of approximately 50 K) as a whole requires 1.3 million yr. The characteristic time is compared with the ambipolar diffusion time, and a 'critical' density is obtained above which a dense cloud is expected to exhibit an angular velocity significantly larger than that due to Galactic rotation alone. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: February 1979 DOI: 10.1086/156832 Bibcode: 1979ApJ...228..159M Keywords: Galactic Rotation; Gravitational Effects; Interstellar Magnetic Fields; Interstellar Matter; Magnetohydrodynamic Flow; Plasma Clouds; Ambipolar Diffusion; Angular Momentum; Magnetic Effects; Astrophysics; Angular Momentum:Interstellar Clouds; Interstellar Clouds:Magnetic Fields; Interstellar Clouds:Magnetohydrodynamics full text sources ADS |
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