Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Sep 1992
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1992a%26a...263...30n&link_type=abstract
Astronomy and Astrophysics (ISSN 0004-6361), vol. 263, no. 1-2, p. 30-36.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
53
Galactic Structure, Interstellar Magnetic Fields, Magnetic Field Configurations, Spiral Galaxies, Dynamo Theory, Emission Spectra, Faraday Effect, Linear Polarization, Telescopes
Scientific paper
The spiral galaxy M51 was observed using the Effelsberg telescope at 2.8 cm, where the intrinsic magnetic field can be investigated without correcting for Faraday effects. A very tight correlation between the magnetic field orientation and the spiral structure of the galaxy is found. This cannot be explained in terms of a pure dynamo action; instead, the close alignment of the field along the arms indicates a direct influence of the velocity field. Because the energy of the large-scale magnetic field is a small fraction of the rotational energy of galactic motion, the magnetic field is forced to follow the kinematics of the gas. In the case of M51 the kinematics is dominated by the strong density waves and the influence of the encounter, which both lead to streaming motions along the arms rather than maintaining an axisymmetric rotation curve.
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