Gould Belt Research Articles

Inferring the dust emission at submillimeter and millimeter wavelengths using neural networks

The Planck mission provided all-sky dust emission maps in the submillimeter (submm) to millimeter (mm) range at an angular resolution of 5$^ prime $. In addition, some specific sources can be observed at long wavelengths and higher resolution using ground-based telescopes. These observations are limited to small scales and are sometimes not delivered to the community. These ground-based observations require extensive data processing before they become available for scientific analysis, and suffer from extended emission filtering. At present, we are still unable to fully understand the emissivity variations observed in different astrophysical environments at long (submm and mm) wavelengths. Several models have been developed to reproduce the diffuse Galactic medium, and each distinct environment requires an adjustment of the models. It is therefore challenging to estimate any dust emission in the submm-mm at a better resolution than the 5$^ prime $ from Planck . In this analysis, based on supervised deep learning algorithms, we produced dust emission predictions in the two Planck bands centered at 850 mic (353 GHz) and 1.38 mm (217 GHz) at the Herschel resolution (37$^ prime $). Prediction or forecasting is a frequently used term in machine learning or neural network research that refers to the output of an algorithm that has been trained on a given dataset and that is being used for modeling purposes. Herschel data of Galactic environments, ranging from 160 mic to 500 mic and smoothed to an angular resolution of 5$^ prime $, were used to train the neural network. This training aimed to provide the most accurate model for reproducing Planck maps of dust emission at 850 mic and 1.38 mm. Then, using Herschel data only, the model was applied to predict dust emission maps at 37$^ prime The neural network is capable of reproducing dust emission maps of various Galactic environments with a difference of only a few percent at the Planck resolution. Remarkably, it also performs well for nearby extragalactic environments. This could indicate that large dust grains, probed by submm or mm observations, have similar properties in both our Galaxy and nearby galaxies, or at least that their spectral behaviors are comparable in Galactic and extragalactic environments. For the first time, we provide to the community dust emission prediction maps at 850 mic and 1.38 mm at the 37$^ prime $ of several surveys: Hi-GAL, Gould Belt, Cold Cores, HERITAGE, Helga, HerM33es, KINGFISH, and Very Nearby Galaxies. The ratio of these two wavelength brightness bands reveals a derived emissivity spectral index statistically close to 1 for all the surveys, which favors the hypothesis of a flattened dust emission spectrum for wavelengths larger than 850 mic . Neural networks appear to be powerful algorithms that are highly efficient at learning from large datasets and achieving accurate reproductions with a deviation of only a few percent. However, to fully recover the input data during the training, it is essential to sample a sufficiently large range of datasets and physical conditions.

Submillimeter and Mid-Infrared Variability of Young Stellar Objects in the M17SWex Intermediate-mass Star-forming Region

We present a comprehensive analysis of young stellar object (YSO) variability within the M17 Southwest Extension (M17 SWex), using 3.5 yr of monitoring data from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) Transient Survey at submillimeter and 9 yr from the NEOWISE mission at mid-infrared (mid-IR). Our study encompasses observations of 147 bright submillimeter peaks identified within our deep JCMT coadded map as well as 156 YSOs in NEOWISE W1 and 179 in W2 that were previously identified in Spitzer surveys. We find three robust submillimeter variables: two are candidate YSOs and one is a likely extragalactic source. At mid-IR wavelengths, our analysis reveals secular and stochastic variability in 47 YSOs, with the highest fraction of secular variability occurring at the earliest evolutionary stage. This is similar to what has previously been observed for low-mass YSO variability within the Gould Belt. However, we observe less overall variability in M17 SWex at both the submillimeter and mid-IR. We suspect that this lower fraction is due to the greater distance to M17 SWex. Our findings showcase the utility of multiwavelength observations to better capture the complex variability phenomena inherent to star formation processes and demonstrate the importance of years-long monitoring of a diverse selection of star-forming environments.

The JCMT Transient Survey: Six Year Summary of 450/850 μm Protostellar Variability and Calibration Pipeline Version 2.0

The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) Transient Survey has been monitoring eight Gould Belt low-mass star-forming regions since 2015 December and six somewhat more distant intermediate-mass star-forming regions since 2020 February with the Submillimeter Common User Bolometer Array 2 on board JCMT at 450 and 850 μm and with an approximately monthly cadence. We introduce our pipeline v2 relative calibration procedures for image alignment and flux calibration across epochs, improving on our previous pipeline v1 by decreasing measurement uncertainties and providing additional robustness. These new techniques work at both 850 and 450 μm, where version 1 only allowed investigation of the 850 μm data. Pipeline v2 achieves better than 0.″5 relative image alignment, less than a tenth of the submillimeter beam widths. The version 2 relative flux calibration is found to be 1% at 850 μm and <5% at 450 μm. The improvement in the calibration is demonstrated by comparing the two pipelines over the first 4 yr of the survey and recovering additional robust variables with version 2. Using the full 6 yr of the Gould Belt survey, the number of robust variables increases by 50%, and at 450 μm we identify four robust variables, all of which are also robust at 850 μm. The multiwavelength light curves for these sources are investigated and found to be consistent with the variability being due to dust heating within the envelope in response to accretion luminosity changes from the central source.

Interpreting the GeV-TeV gamma-ray spectra of local giant molecular clouds using GEANT4 simulation

Recently, the Fermi-LAT gamma-ray satellite has detected six Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs) located in the Gould Belt and the Aquila Rift regions. In half of these objects (Taurus, Orion A, Orion B), the observed gamma-ray spectrum can be explained using the Galactic diffused Cosmic Ray (CR) interactions with the gas environments. In the remaining three GMCs (Rho Oph, Aquila Rift, Cepheus), the origin of the gamma-ray spectrum is still not well established. We use the GEometry ANd Tracking (GEANT4) simulation framework in order to simulate gamma-ray emission due to CR/GMC interaction in these three objects, taking into account the gas density distribution inside the GMCs. We find that propagation of diffused Galactic CRs inside these GMCs can explain the Fermi-LAT detected gamma-ray spectra. Further, our estimated TeV-PeV fluxes are consistent with the HAWC upper limits, available for the Aquila Rift GMC. As last step, we compute the total neutrino flux estimated for these GMCs and compare it with the IceCube detection sensitivity.

Disk Dissipation, Giant Planet Formation, and Star Formation Rate Fluctuations in the 3 Myr History of Gould’s Belt

Although episodic star formation (SF) has been suggested for nearby SF regions, a panoramic view of the recent episodic SF history in the solar neighborhood is still missing. By uniformly constraining the slope α of infrared spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of young stellar objects (YSOs) in the 13 largest Gould’s Belt (GB) protoclusters surveyed by the Spitzer Space Telescope, we have constructed a cluster-averaged histogram of α representing the YSO evolution lifetime as a function of the α value. Complementary to the traditional SED classification scheme (0, i, f, ii, and iii) that is based on different α values, a staging scheme (A, B, C, D, and E) of SED evolution is proposed on the basis of the α statistical features that can be better matched to the physical stages of disk dissipation and giant planet formation. This has also allowed us to unravel the fluctuations of SF rate (SFR) in the 3 Myr history of these GB protoclusters. Diverse evolutionary patterns such as single peaks, double peaks, and ongoing acceleration of SFR are revealed. The SFR fluctuations are between 20% and 60% (∼40% on average) and no dependence on the average SFR or the number of SFR episodes is found. However, spatially close protoclusters tend to have similar SFR fluctuation trends, indicating that the driving force of the fluctuations should be at size scales beyond the typical cluster sizes of several parsecs.

A Three-Dimensional Analytical Model of the Interstellar Extinction within the Nearest Kiloparsec

We present a new version of our analytical model of the spatial interstellar extinction variations within the nearest kiloparsec. This model treats the 3D dust distribution as a superposition of three overlapping layers: (1) the layer along the Galactic midplane, (2) the layer in the Gould Belt, and (3) the layer passing through the Cepheus and Chamaeleon dust cloud complexes. In each layer the dust density decreases exponentially with increasing distance from the midplane of the layer. In addition, there are sinusoidal longitudinal extinction variations along the midplane of each layer. We have found the most probable values of 29 parameters of our model using four data sets: the 3D stellar reddening maps by Gontcharov (2017), Lallement et al. (2019), and Green et al. (2019) and the extinctions inferred by Anders et al. (2022) for 993291 giants from the Gaia EDR3. All of the data give similar estimates of the model parameters. The extinction for a star or a point in space is predicted by our model with an accuracy from $\sigma(A_\mathrm{V})=0.07$ to 0.37 for high and low Galactic latitudes, respectively. The natural fluctuations of the dust medium dominate in these values. When ignoring the fluctuations of the medium, the average extinction for an extended object (a galaxy, a star cluster, a dust cloud) or a small region of space is predicted by our model with an accuracy from $\sigma(A_\mathrm{V})=0.04$ to 0.15 for high and low Galactic latitudes, respectively. Green et al. (2019) and Anders et al. (2022) give in unison an estimate of $A_\mathrm{V}=0.12^m$ for the extinction at high latitudes across the whole Galactic dust half-layer above or below the Sun with the natural fluctuations of the medium $\sigma(A_\mathrm{V})=0.06^m$. Our model is a step to explain how a substantial amount of dust ended up far from the Galactic midplane.

The JCMT Transient Survey: Single-epoch Transients and Variability of Faint Sources

Short-duration flares at millimeter wavelengths provide unique insights into the strongest magnetic reconnection events in stellar coronae and combine with longer-term variability to introduce complications to next-generation cosmology surveys. We analyze 5.5 yr of JCMT Transient Survey 850 μm submillimeter monitoring observations toward eight Gould Belt star-forming regions to search for evidence of transient events or long-duration variability from faint sources. The eight regions (30′ diameter fields), including ∼1200 infrared-selected YSOs, have been observed on average 47 times with integrations of approximately half an hour, or one day total, spread over 5.5 yr. Within this large data set, only two robust faint source detections are recovered: JW 566 in OMC 2/3 and MGM12 2864 in NGC 2023. JW 566, a Class II T Tauri binary system previously identified as an extraordinary submillimeter flare, remains unique, the only clear single-epoch transient detection in this sample with a flare eight times bright than our ∼4.5σ detection threshold of 55 mJy beam−1. The lack of additional recovered flares intermediate between JW 566 and our detection limit is puzzling if smaller events are more common than larger events. In contrast, the other submillimeter variable identified in our analysis, Source 2864, is highly variable on all observed timescales. Although Source 2864 is occasionally classified as a YSO, the source is most likely a blazar. The degree of variability across the electromagnetic spectrum may be used to aid source classification.

Parameters of the Radcliffe Wave from Masers, Radio Stars, and T Tauri Stars

The presence of the Radcliffe wave is shown both in the positions and in the vertical velocities of masers and radio stars belonging to the Local Arm. This gives the impression that the structure of the Radcliffe wave is not a wave in the full sense of the word. It is more like a local high-amplitude burst, rapidly fading away. Moreover, this structure has the largest amplitude in the immediate vicinity of the Sun, where the main ``contributors'' are the Gould Belt stars. Based on the spectral analysis of masers, the following estimates of the geometric and kinematic characteristics of the wave were obtained: the largest value of the vertical coordinate $z_{max}=87\pm4$ pc and the wavelength $\lambda=2.8\pm0.1$ kpc, the vertical velocity perturbation amplitude reaches $W_{max}=5.1\pm0.7$ km s$^{-1}$ and the wavelength found from vertical velocities is $\lambda=3.9\pm1.6$ kpc. The Radcliffe wave also manifests itself in the positions of very young stars that have not reached the main sequence stage. We extracted a sample of such stars from the Gaia DR2$\times$AllWISE database and obtained the following estimates from them: $z_{max}=118\pm3$ pc and wavelength $\lambda=2.0\pm0.1$ kpc.

The Distribution of UV Radiation Field in the Molecular Clouds of Gould Belt

The distribution of ultraviolet (UV) radiation field provides critical constraints on the physical environments of molecular clouds. Within 1 kpc of our solar system and fostering protostars of different masses, the giant molecular clouds in the Gould Belt present an excellent opportunity to resolve the UV field structure in star-forming regions. We performed spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting of the archival data from the Herschel Gould Belt Survey (HGBS). Dust radiative transfer analysis with the DUSTY code was applied to 23 regions in 14 molecular complexes of the Gould Belt, resulting in the spatial distribution of the radiation field in these regions. For 10 of 15 regions with independent measurements of star formation rate, their star formation rate and UV radiation intensity largely conform to a linear correlation found in previous studies.

Discovery of a coherent, wave-like velocity pattern for the Radcliffe wave

ABSTRACT Recent studies discovered that part of the Gould Belt belongs to a 2.7 kpc-long coherent, thin wave consisting of a chain of clouds, where a damped undulation pattern has been identified from the spatial arrangement of the clouds. We use the proper motions of young stellar objects anchored inside the clouds to study the kinematic structure of the Radcliffe wave in terms of vz, and identify a damped, wave-like pattern from the vz space, which we call ‘velocity undulation’. We propose a new formalism based on the ensemble empirical mode decomposition to determine the amplitude, period, and phase of the undulation pattern, and find that the spatial and velocity undulation share an almost identical spatial frequency of about 1.5 kpc, and both are damped when measured from one side to the other. Measured for the first cycle, they exhibit a phase difference of around 2π/3. The structure is oscillating around the mid-plane of the Milky Way disc with an amplitude of ${\sim}130\, \pm \, 20\, \rm pc$. The vertical extent of the Radcliffe wave exceeds the thickness of the molecular disc, suggesting that the undulation of the undulation signature might originate from a perturbation, e.g. the passage of a dwarf galaxy.

Are Massive Dense Clumps Truly Subvirial? A New Analysis Using Gould Belt Ammonia Data

Abstract Dynamical studies of dense structures within molecular clouds often conclude that the most massive clumps contain too little kinetic energy for virial equilibrium, unless they are magnetized to an unexpected degree. This raises questions about how such a state might arise, and how it might persist long enough to represent the population of massive clumps. In an effort to reexamine the origins of this conclusion, we use ammonia line data from the Green Bank Ammonia Survey and Planck-calibrated dust emission data from Herschel to estimate the masses and kinetic and gravitational energies for dense clumps in the Gould Belt clouds. We show that several types of systematic error can enhance the appearance of low kinetic-to-gravitational energy ratios: insufficient removal of foreground and background material; ignoring the kinetic energy associated with velocity differences across a resolved cloud; and overcorrecting for stratification when evaluating the gravitational energy. Using an analysis designed to avoid these errors, we find that the most massive Gould Belt clumps harbor virial motions, rather than subvirial ones. As a by-product, we present a catalog of masses, energies, and virial energy ratios for 85 Gould Belt clumps.

AGB Interlopers in YSO Catalogs Hunted out by NEOWISE

Abstract Asymptotic giant branch stars (AGBs) and young stellar objects (YSOs) often share the same domains in infrared (IR) color–magnitude or color–color diagrams leading to potential misclassification. We extracted a list of AGB interlopers from the published YSO catalogs using the periodogram analysis on the Near-Earth Object Wide Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) time series data. YSO IR variability is typically stochastic and linked to episodic mass accretion. Furthermore, most variable YSOs are at an early evolutionary stage, with significant surrounding envelope and/or disk material. In contrast, AGBs are often identified by a well-defined sinusoidal variability with periods of a few hundreds days. From our periodogram analysis of all known low-mass YSOs in the Gould Belt, we find 85 AGB candidates, out of which 62 were previously classified as late-stage Class III YSOs. Most of these new AGB candidates have similar IR colors to O-rich AGBs. We observed 73 of these AGB candidates in the H2O, CH3OH, and SiO maser lines to further reveal their nature. The SiO maser emission was detected in 10 sources, confirming them as AGBs because low-mass YSOs, especially Class III YSOs, do not show such maser emission. The H2O and CH3OH maser lines were detected in none of our targets.

The JCMT Gould Belt Survey: radiative heating by OB stars

ABSTRACT Radiative feedback can influence subsequent star formation. We quantify the heating from OB stars in the local star-forming regions in the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) Gould Belt Survey. Dust temperatures are calculated from 450/850 $\mu$m flux ratios from SCUBA-2 observations at the JCMT assuming a fixed dust opacity spectral index β = 1.8. Mean dust temperatures are calculated for each submillimetre clump along with projected distances from the main OB star in the region. Temperature versus distance is fitted with a simple model of dust heating by the OB star radiation plus the interstellar radiation field and dust cooling through optically thin radiation. Classifying the heating sources by spectral type, O-type stars produce the greatest clump average temperature rises and largest heating extent, with temperatures of over 40 K and significant heating out to at least 2.4 pc. Early-type B stars (B4 and above) produce temperatures of over 20 K and significant heating over 0.4 pc. Late-type B stars show a marginal heating effect within 0.2 pc. For a given projected distance, there is a significant scatter in clump temperatures that is due to local heating by other luminous stars in the region, projection effects, or shadowing effects. Even in these local, ‘low-mass’ star-forming regions, radiative feedback is having an effect on parsec scales, with 24 per cent of the clumps heated to at least 3 K above the 15 K base temperature expected from heating by only the interstellar radiation field, and a mean dust temperature for heated clumps of 24 K.

Physical properties of the ambient medium and of dense cores in the Perseus star-forming region derived from Herschel Gould Belt Survey observations

The complex of star-forming regions in Perseus is one of the most studied due to its proximity (about 300 pc). In addition, its regions show variation in star-formation activity and age, with formation of low-mass and intermediate-mass stars. In this paper, we present analyses of images taken with the Herschel ESA satellite from 70 μm to 500 μm. From these images, we first constructed column density and dust temperature maps. We then identified compact cores in the maps at each wavelength, and characterised the cores using modified blackbody fits to their spectral energy distributions (SEDs): we identified 684 starless cores, of which 199 are bound and potential prestellar cores, and 132 protostars. We also matched the Herschel-identified young stars with Gaia sources to model distance variations across the Perseus cloud. We measure a linear gradient function with right ascension and declination for the entire cloud. This function is the first quantitative attempt to derive the gradient in distance across Perseus, from east to west, in an analytical form. We derived mass and temperature of cores from the SED fits. The core mass function can be modelled with a log-normal distribution that peaks at 0.82 M⊙ suggesting a star formation efficiency of 0.30 for a peak in the system initial mass function of stars at 0.25 M⊙. The high-mass tail can be modelled with a power law of slope ~−2.32, which is close to the Salpeter’s value. We also identify the filamentary structure of Perseus and discuss the relation between filaments and star formation, confirming that stars form preferentially in filaments. We find that the majority of filaments with ongoing star formation are transcritical against their own internal gravity because their linear masses are below the critical limit of 16 M⊙ pc−1 above which we expect filaments to collapse. We find a possible explanation for this result, showing that a filament with a linear mass as low as 8 M⊙ pc−1 can already be unstable. We confirm a linear relationship between star formation efficiency and the slope of dust probability density function, and we find a similar relationship with the core formation efficiency. We derive a lifetime for the prestellar core phase of 1.69 ± 0.52 Myr for the whole Perseus complex but different regions have a wide range in prestellar core fractions, suggesting that star formation began only recently in some clumps. We also derive a free-fall time for prestellar cores of 0.16 Myr.

Discovery of a Young Stellar Snake with Two Dissolving Cores in the Solar Neighborhood

Abstract We report the discovery of a young (only 30–40 Myr) snake-like structure (dubbed a stellar snake) in the solar neighborhood from Gaia DR2. The average distance of this structure is about 310 pc from us. Both the length and width are over 200 pc, but the thickness is only about 80 pc. The snake has one tail and two dissolving cores, which can be clearly distinguished in the 6D phase space. The whole structure includes thousands of members with a total mass of larger than 2000 M ⊙ in a uniform population. The population is so young that it cannot be well explained with the classical theory of tidal tails. We therefore suspect that the snake is hierarchically primordial, rather than the result of dynamically tidal stripping, even if the snake is probably expanding. The coherent 5D phase information and the ages suggest that the snake was probably born in the same environment as the filamentary structure of Beccari et al. If so, the snake could extend the sky region of the Vela OB2 association by a factor of ∼2 and supplement the census of its coeval structures. This finding is useful to understanding the history of the formation and evolution of the Vela OB2 complex. The age of the snake well matches with that of the Gould Belt. In the sky region of our interest, we detect one new open cluster, which is named Tian 1 in this work.

Gaia DR2 giants in the Galactic dust – II. Application of the reddening maps and models

ABSTRACT We exploit a complete sample of 101 810 Gaia DR2 giants, selected in Paper I in the space cylinder with a radius of 700 pc around the Sun and a height of |Z| = 1800 pc, using the Gaia DR2 parallaxes, GBP and GRP photometry, and WISE W3 photometry. We explain the spatial variations of the modes of the observables GBP − GRP and GRP − W3 by the spatial variations of the corresponding reddenings described in the GM20 3D dust distribution model. Presented in this paper, GM20 is an advanced version of the model introduced by Gontcharov in 2009. GM20 proposes two intersecting dust layers, along the Galactic mid-plane and in the Gould Belt, with exponential vertical and sinusoidal longitudinal variations of the dust spatial density in each layer. The Belt layer is an ellipse, oriented nearly between the centre and anticentre of the Galaxy, and with semi-major and semi-minor axes of 600 and 146 pc, respectively. GBP − GRP and GRP − W3 give similar solutions, but different equatorial layer scale heights of 150 ± 15 and 180 ± 15 pc, respectively, and $(G_\mathrm{BP}-G_\mathrm{RP})_0=(1.14\pm 0.01)-(0.022\pm 0.010)\, |Z|$, $(G_\mathrm{RP}-W3)_0=(1.44\pm 0.01)-(0.015\pm 0.010)\, |Z|$, where Z is in kpc. We compare GM20 with several 3D reddening models and maps in their ability to predict the observed colour modes. GM20 and the 3D map by Gontcharov appear to be the best among the models and maps, respectively. However, the most reliable models and maps mainly disagree only in their estimates of low reddening, including the reddening across the whole dust layer.

Evidence of Cosmic-Ray Excess from Local Giant Molecular Clouds

Abstract We report the analysis of the Fermi-Large Area Telescope data from six nearby giant molecular clouds (MCs) belonging to the Gould Belt and the Aquila Rift regions. The high statistical γ-ray spectra above 3 GeV well described by power laws make it possible to derive precise estimates of the cosmic-ray (CR) distribution in the MCs. The comparison of γ-ray spectra of Taurus, Orion A, and Orion B clouds with the model expected from Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) CR measurements confirms these clouds as passive clouds, immersed in an AMS-02-like CR spectrum. A similar comparison of Aquila Rift, Rho Oph, and Cepheus spectra yields significant deviation in both spectral indices and absolute fluxes, which can imply an additional acceleration of CRs throughout the entire clouds. Besides, the theoretical modeling of the excess γ-ray spectrum of these clouds, assuming π 0-decay interaction of CRs in the cloud, gives a considerable amount of an enhanced CR energy density and it shows a significant deviation in spectral shapes compared to the average AMS-02 CR spectrum between 30 GeV and 10 TeV. We suggest that this variation in the CR spectrum of Cepheus could be accounted for by an efficient acceleration in the shocks of winds of OB associations, while in Rho Oph, similar acceleration can be provided by multiple T-Tauri stars populated in the whole cloud. In the case of Aquila Rift, the excess in absolute CR flux could be related to an additional acceleration of CRs by supernova remnants or propagation effects in the cloud.

Planck2018 results

Observations of the submillimetre emission from Galactic dust, in both total intensityIand polarization, have received tremendous interest thanks to thePlanckfull-sky maps. In this paper we make use of such full-sky maps of dust polarized emission produced from the third public release ofPlanckdata. As the basis for expanding on astrophysical studies of the polarized thermal emission from Galactic dust, we present full-sky maps of the dust polarization fractionp, polarization angleψ, and dispersion function of polarization angles 𝒮. The joint distribution (one-point statistics) ofpandNHconfirms that the mean and maximum polarization fractions decrease with increasingNH. The uncertainty on the maximum observed polarization fraction,pmax= 22.0−1.4+3.5% at 353 GHz and 80′ resolution, is dominated by the uncertainty on the Galactic emission zero level in total intensity, in particular towards diffuse lines of sight at high Galactic latitudes. Furthermore, the inverse behaviour betweenpand 𝒮 found earlier is seen to be present at high latitudes. This follows the 𝒮 ∝ p−1relationship expected from models of the polarized sky (including numerical simulations of magnetohydrodynamical turbulence) that include effects from only the topology of the turbulent magnetic field, but otherwise have uniform alignment and dust properties. Thus, the statistical properties ofp,ψ, and 𝒮 for the most part reflect the structure of the Galactic magnetic field. Nevertheless, we search for potential signatures of varying grain alignment and dust properties. First, we analyse the product map 𝒮 × p, looking for residual trends. While the polarization fractionpdecreases by a factor of 3−4 betweenNH = 1020 cm−2andNH = 2 × 1022 cm−2, out of the Galactic plane, this product 𝒮 × ponly decreases by about 25%. Because 𝒮 is independent of the grain alignment efficiency, this demonstrates that the systematic decrease inpwithNHis determined mostly by the magnetic-field structure and not by a drop in grain alignment. This systematic trend is observed both in the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) and in molecular clouds of the Gould Belt. Second, we look for a dependence of polarization properties on the dust temperature, as we would expect from the radiative alignment torque (RAT) theory. We find no systematic trend of 𝒮 × pwith the dust temperatureTd, whether in the diffuse ISM or in the molecular clouds of the Gould Belt. In the diffuse ISM, lines of sight with high polarization fractionpand low polarization angle dispersion 𝒮 tend, on the contrary, to have colder dust than lines of sight with lowpand high 𝒮. We also compare thePlanckthermal dust polarization with starlight polarization data in the visible at high Galactic latitudes. The agreement in polarization angles is remarkable, and is consistent with what we expect from the noise and the observed dispersion of polarization angles in the visible on the scale of thePlanckbeam. The two polarization emission-to-extinction ratios,RP/pandRS/V, which primarily characterize dust optical properties, have only a weak dependence on the column density, and converge towards the values previously determined for translucent lines of sight. We also determine an upper limit for the polarization fraction in extinction,pV/E(B − V), of 13% at high Galactic latitude, compatible with the polarization fractionp ≈ 20% observed at 353 GHz. Taken together, these results provide strong constraints for models of Galactic dust in diffuse gas.

Estimation of the Gould Belt Scale Height from T Tauri Type Stars in the Gaia DR2 Catalog

We analyze the spatial and kinematic properties of a large sample of young T Tauri type stars in a 500 pc radius solar neighborhood, closely related to the Gould belt. The following parameters of the exponential density distribution have been determined: the average $(z_G)_\odot=-25\pm5$ pc and scale height $h_G=56\pm6$ pc. We propose a method of excluding background stars from the samples, which are located at large heights with respect to the symmetry plane of the Gould belt. We discovered that the expansion effect for the entire star system, $K_G=6\pm1$ km s$^{-1}$ kpc$^{-1}$, is determined mainly by the dynamics of the Scorpius-Centaurus association. We show that the angular velocity of the residual intrinsic rotation of the Gould belt can reach $\Omega_G=6.9\pm0.2$ km s$^{-1}$ kpc$^{-1}$ and that this rotation is opposite to the galactic rotation.

Study of the Galactic Rotation Based on Masers and Radio Stars with VLBI Measurements of Their Parallaxes

Based on published data, we have produced a sample of 256 radio sources whose trigonometric parallaxes and proper motions were measured by VLBI. This sample contains Galactic masers associated with massive protostars and stars in active star-forming regions. It also includes young low-mass stars from the Gould Belt region whose radio observations were performed in continuum. Based on this, most complete sample of sources to date, we have estimated the velocities $(U,V,W)_\odot$ and the parameters of the angular velocity of Galactic rotation $\Omega_0, \Omega^{(1)}_0, ... , \Omega^{(4)}_0$ and obtained a new estimate of the distance fromthe Sun to the Galactic center, $R_0=8.15^{+0.04}_{-0.20}$ kpc. The parameters of the Galactic spiral density wave have been found from the series of radial, $V_R$, and residual tangential, $\Delta V_{circ}$, velocities of stars. The amplitudes of the radial and tangential velocity perturbations are $f_R=7.0\pm0.9$ km s$^{-1}$ and $f_\theta=3.8\pm1.1$ km s$^{-1}$, the perturbation wavelengths are $\lambda_R=2.3\pm0.2$ kpc and $\lambda_\theta=2.0\pm0.4$ kpc, and the Sun's phases in the spiral density wave are $(\chi_\odot)_R=-163^\circ\pm9^\circ$ and $(\chi_\odot)_\theta=-137^\circ\pm10^\circ$ for the adopted four-armed spiral pattern.