Very Large Array H I Zeeman Observations toward the W49 Complex

We report Very Large Array (VLA) H I Zeeman observations toward the W49A star-forming region and the supernova remnant W49B. Line-of-sight magnetic fields (Blos) of 60-300 μG at 25'' resolution were detected toward W49A at velocities of ~4 and ~7 km s-1. The Blos values measured toward W49A show a significant increase in field strength with higher resolution, especially for the ~4 km s-1 H I component. The H I gas in the velocity range -5-25 km s-1 toward W49A shows good agreement both kinematically and spatially with molecular emission intrinsically associated with W49A. On the basis of comparisons with molecular data toward W49A, we suggest that the ~4 km s-1 H I component is directly associated with the northern part of the H II region ring, while the ~7 km s-1 H I component seems to originate in a lower density halo surrounding W49A. We estimate that the W49A North core is significantly subvirial (2𝒯/ ∣ 𝒲 ∣ ~ 0.2) and that the total kinetic+magnetic energies amount to less than of the total W49A North gravitational energy. These magnetic field results suggest that W49A North is unstable to overall gravitational collapse, in agreement with evidence that the halo is collapsing onto the W49A North ring of H II regions. The majority of the H I column density toward W49B comes from Sagittarius arm clouds along the line of sight at ~40 and ~60 km s-1. No significant magnetic fields were detected toward W49B. Comparison of the spectral distribution of H I gas toward W49A and W49B suggests that evidence placing W49B 3 kpc closer to the Sun (i.e., at 8 kpc) than W49A is quite weak. Although we cannot place W49B at the same distance as W49A, we find the morphology of a ~5 km s-1 H I component toward the southern edge of W49B suggestive of an interaction.