by APOD Robot » Wed Apr 21, 2021 4:05 am
Centaurus A's Warped Magnetic Fields
Explanation: When galaxies collide -- what happens to their
magnetic fields? To help find out, NASA pointed
SOFIA, its flying 747, at galactic neighbor
Centaurus A to observe the emission of polarized dust -- which traces magnetic fields. Cen A's unusual shape results from the clash of two galaxies with
jets powered by gas accreting onto a
central supermassive black hole. In the resulting
featured image, SOFIA-derived magnetic streamlines are superposed on
ESO (
visible: white),
APEX (
submillimeter: orange),
Chandra (
X-rays: blue), and
Spitzer (
infrared: red) images. The magnetic fields were found to be
parallel to the
dust lanes on the outskirts of the galaxy but distorted near the center. Gravitational forces near the
black hole accelerate ions and enhance the
magnetic field. In sum, the
collision not only combined the galaxiesâ masses -- but amplified their magnetic fields.
These results provide
new insights into how magnetic fields evolved in the
early universe when
mergers were more common.
[url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210421.html] [img]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_210421.jpg[/img] [size=150]Centaurus A's Warped Magnetic Fields[/size][/url]
[b] Explanation: [/b] When galaxies collide -- what happens to their [url=https://pwg.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/Imagnet.html]magnetic fields[/url]? To help find out, NASA pointed [url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/SOFIA/index.html]SOFIA[/url], its flying 747, at galactic neighbor [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centaurus_A]Centaurus A[/url] to observe the emission of polarized dust -- which traces magnetic fields. Cen A's unusual shape results from the clash of two galaxies with [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210117.html]jets[/url] powered by gas accreting onto a [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210331.html]central supermassive black hole[/url]. In the resulting [url=https://www.nasa.gov/feature/galactic-merger-warps-magnetic-fields]featured image[/url], SOFIA-derived magnetic streamlines are superposed on [url=https://www.eso.org/public/]ESO[/url] ([url=https://science.nasa.gov/ems/09_visiblelight]visible[/url]: white), [url=http://www.apex-telescope.org/ns/]APEX[/url] ([url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far-infrared_astronomy]submillimeter[/url]: orange), [url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/main/index.html]Chandra[/url] ([url=https://science.nasa.gov/ems/11_xrays]X-rays[/url]: blue), and [url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/main/index.html]Spitzer[/url] ([url=https://science.nasa.gov/ems/07_infraredwaves]infrared[/url]: red) images. The magnetic fields were found to be [url=https://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/parallel-lines.html]parallel[/url] to the [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap151119.html]dust lane[/url]s on the outskirts of the galaxy but distorted near the center. Gravitational forces near the [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210416.html]black hole[/url] accelerate ions and enhance the [url=https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/cheerpj/faraday/latest/faraday.html]magnetic field[/url]. In sum, the [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_merger]collision[/url] not only combined the galaxiesâ masses -- but amplified their magnetic fields. [url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-021-01329-9.epdf]These results[/url] provide [url=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d6/dc/8b/d6dc8b1771b697ff2992982482911274.jpg]new insights[/url] into how magnetic fields evolved in the [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121014.html]early universe[/url] when [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130514.html]mergers[/url] were more common.
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