Wide-field NIR polarimetry of {rho} Oph cloud

Aperture polarimetry in the JHK_s_ band was conducted for 2136 sources in all three bands, of which 322 sources have significant polarizations in all the JHK_s_ bands and have been used for a discussion of the core magnetic fields. There is a positive correlation between degrees of polarization and H-K_s_ color up to H-K_s_~3.5.

The magnetic field structures in the core region are revealed up to at least A_V_~47mag and are unambiguously defined in each sub-region (core) of Oph-A, Oph-B, Oph-C, Oph-E, Oph-F, and Oph-AC. Their directions, degrees of polarization, and polarization efficiencies differ but their changes are gradual; thus, the magnetic fields appear to be connected from core to core, rather than as a simple overlap of the different cloud core components.