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Studying magnetic fields and dust in M17 using polarized thermal dust emission observed by SOFIA/HAWC+

We report the highest spatial resolution measurement of magnetic fields in M17 using thermal dust polarization taken by SOFIA/HAWC+ centered at 154 $μ$m wavelength. Using the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method, we found the presence of strong magnetic fields of $980 \pm 230\;μ$G and $1665 \pm 885\;μ$G in lower-density (M17-N) and higher-density (M17-S) regions, respectively. The magnetic field morphology in M17-N possibly mimics the fields in gravitational collapse molecular cores while in M17-S the fields run perpendicular to the matter structure and display a pillar and an asymmetric hourglass shape. The mean values of the magnetic field strength are used to determine the Alfvénic Mach numbers ($\mathcal{M_A}$) of M17-N and M17-S which turn out to be sub-Alfvénic, or magnetic fields dominate turbulence. We calculate the mass-to-flux ratio, $λ$, and obtain $λ=0.07$ for M17-N and $0.28$ for M17-S. The sub-critical values of $λ$ are in agreement with the lack of massive stars formed in M17. To study dust physics, we analyze the relationship between the dust polarization fraction, $p$, and the thermal emission intensity, $I$, gas column density, $N({\rm H_2})$, and dust temperature, $T_{\rm d}$. The polarization fraction decreases with intensity as $I^{-α}$ with $α= 0.51$. The polarization fraction also decreases with increasing $N(\rm H_{2})$, which can be explained by the decrease of grain alignment by radiative torques (RATs) toward denser regions with a weaker radiation field and/or tangling of magnetic fields. The polarization fraction tends to increase with $T_{\rm d}$ first and then decreases when $T_ {\rm d} > 50$ K. The latter feature seen in the M17-N, where the gas density changes slowly with $T_{d}$, is consistent with the RAT disruption effect.