Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Oct 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006aas...208.2206b&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #208, #22.06
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Observations of synchrotron radiation demonstrate that galaxies have magnetic fields. Our own Galaxy is no exception. The Galactic magnetic field is thought to play a role in both matter and cosmic ray confinement, and hence in overall pressure balance. It is not known how the magnetic field of our Galaxy is generated, nor what its overall structure is. Furthermore, determining the large-scale structure would help identify the origin of the field. Magnetic field reversals (regions of magnetic shear across which the field direction changes by roughly 180 degrees) provide important clues about this large-scale structure.
As a linearly polarized wave propagates through a magnetized plasma, the polarization angle rotates in a predictable way through Faraday rotation. We quantify this effect with a measurable quantity appropriately called the rotation measure (RM). By measuring the RM of compact polarized sources (pulsars and external galaxies), we are essentially probing the magnetic field along their lines-of-sight; the more probes there are, the easier it is to reconstruct the intervening field.
The International Galactic Plane Survey (IGPS) is revealing compact polarized sources towards the outer and inner Galaxy at sufficiently high densities to study previously unobserved details of the Galactic magnetic field. In this talk, I will present a summary of the observations obtained to date, and discuss the implications of these observations on our understanding of the structure and evolution of the field. I will also highlight some of the observations that are either currently underway or expected in the near future that will resolve additional questions that have been raised as a result of the work I have done so far.
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