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Observations of Galactic Magnetic Fields

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2016

Rainer Beck
Rainer Beck*
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, D-53121 Bonn, Germany

Abstract

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Magnetic fields are anchored in gas clouds. Field lines are tangled in spiral arms, but highly regular between the arms. The similarity of pitch angles between gaseous and magnetic arms suggests a coupling between the density wave and the magnetic wave. Observations of large-scale patterns in Faraday rotation favour a dynamo origin of the regular fields. Fields in barred galaxies do not reveal the strong shearing shocks observed in the cold gas, but swing smoothly from the upstream region into the bar. Magnetic fields are important for the dynamics of gas clouds, for the formation of spiral structures, bars and halos, and for mass and angular momentum transport in central regions.

Type
II. Joint Discussions
Information
Highlights of Astronomy , Volume 12: Highlights of Astronomy. As presented at the XXIVth General Assembly of the IAU, 2000 , 2002 , pp. 712 - 715
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of Pacific 2002

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