15min:

RICHARD M. CRUTCHER, Astronomy Department, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801.

Observations of magnetic field strengths and morphologies in molecular clouds can test theories of what drives the star formation process. A new observational technique, first proposed by Goldreich, involves the observation of linear polarization of millimeter-wave molecular lines. The direction and an estimate of the strength of the magnetic field projected onto the sky may be inferred by mapping a cloud. The technique opens new environments to measurements of magnetic fields, such as molecular outflows from young stellar objects. In addition, information about the field structure as a function of radial velocity may be obtained. I briefly review the physics that produces the linear polarization, report application of this technique to molecular clouds by observations of CO lines with the BIMA millimeter-wave array, and discuss the astrophysical significance of the results.