Magnetic field in the Flame nebula

The support of interstellar clouds against gravitational collapse by magnetic (B-) fields has been proposed to explain the low observed star formation efficiency in galaxies and the Milky Way. Despite the Planck satellite providing a 5-15' all-sky map of the B-field geometry in the diffuse interstellar medium, higher spatial resolution observations are required to understand the transition from diffuse gas to gravitationally unstable filaments.

NGC 2024, the Flame Nebula, in the nearby Orion B molecular cloud, contains a young, expanding HII region and a dense filament that harbors embedded protostellar objects. Therefore, NGC 2024 is an excellent opportunity to study the role of B-fields in the formation, evolution, and collapse of filaments, as well as the dynamics and effects of young HII regions on the surrounding molecular gas. We combine new 154 and 216um dust polarization measurements carried out using the HAWC+ instrument aboard SOFIA with molecular line observations of ^12^CN(1-0) and HCO+(1-0) from the IRAM 30-meter telescope to determine the B-field geometry and to estimate the plane of the sky magnetic field strength across the NGC 2024.