Circular polarimetry reveals helical magnetic fields in the young stellar object HH 135-136.

Magnetic fields are believed to have a vital role in regulating and shaping the flow of material onto and away from protostars during their initial mass accretion phase. It is becoming increasingly accepted that bipolar outflows are generated and collimated as material is driven along magnetic field lines and centrifugally accelerated off a rotating accretion disk. However, the precise role of the magnetic field is poorly understood and evidence for its shape and structure has not been forthcoming.

UV circular polarisation in star formation regions: the origin of homochirality?

Ultraviolet circularly polarised light has been suggested as the initial cause of the homochirality of organic molecules in terrestrial organisms, via enantiomeric selection of prebiotic molecules by asymmetric photolysis. We present a theoretical investigation of mechanisms by which ultraviolet circular polarisation may be produced in star formation regions. In the scenarios considered here, light scattering produces only a small percentage of net circular polarisation at any point in space, due to the forward throwing nature of the phase function in the ultraviolet.