Electromagnetic Galaxies

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Composite image of spiral galaxy M106 (NGC 4258).
Credit: X-ray NASA/CXC/Univ. of Maryland/A.S. Wilson et al.; Optical: Pal.Obs. DSS; IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech; VLA: NRAO/AUI/NSF

Electromagnetic Galaxies
Oct 01, 2010

Galactic magnetic fields were discovered more than 50 years ago.

Astronomers continue to ask basic questions about the stars: what generates their magnetic fields? What gives those fields their shape and their strength?

According to a recent press release, a team of astronomers using an updated analytical model of galaxy formation think they have found the answers. Cool gas falling into the galaxy, supernovae explosions, the birth of new stars, and the rotational energy of the galaxy itself are what create the fields. However, they are missing other factors in their equations since the models are not able to predict the fields observed in several spiral galaxies.

How do scientists observe extrasolar magnetic fields? George Ellery Hale first plotted the Sun's magnetic field using the "Zeeman effect," or the change in position of Fraunhofer lines found in spectrograms of the Sun. Optical spectra indicate which chemicals can be found in the Sun, as well as other stars. By spreading starlight into its components like a prism does to white light, dark lines at specific places provide a way to determine a star's constituent elements.

In the presence of a magnetic field, elements produce spectral lines that split and occupy different positions. Those changes in position are called the Zeeman effect. However, as a paper written by the investigation team states: "Such fields are important in star formation and the physics of cosmic rays, and could also have an effect on galaxy evolution, yet, despite their importance, questions about their origin, evolution and structure remain largely unsolved."

More at link: http://www.thunderbolts.info/tpod/00current.htm