The magnetic fields around the cometary globules L328, L323, and L331

Abstract

This work presents the magnetic field geometry in a complex of three cometary (with head–tail morphology) globules, namely LDN 323, LDN 328, and LDN 331, using R-band polarization measurements of background stars. These observations were combined with a Planck sky survey to study the large-scale morphology of the magnetic fields in the region. The distances of the target stars were adopted from the Gaia catalogue. The variation of the degree of polarization and polarization position angle with distances of stars is analysed. The field geometry is mostly found to follow the cometary shape of the cloud, with some randomness at certain locations. For studying the correlation between cloud morphology and magnetic field orientations, a modified version of the histogram of relative orientation (HRO) analysis was employed.