Something strange is happening in the Milky Way’s magnetic field
Deep inside the Milky Way, an invisible force is quietly holding everything together — its magnetic field. Now, researchers have created one of the most detailed maps ever of this hidden structure, revealing surprising twists in how it flows through our galaxy.
For generations, scientists have studied the stars and planets to better understand how our galaxy works. Now, Dr. Jo-Anne Brown, PhD, is focused on charting something we cannot see at all: the Milky Way's magnetic field.
"Without a magnetic field, the galaxy would collapse in on itself due to gravity," says Brown, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Calgary.
The researchers measured a phenomenon known as Faraday rotation to trace the magnetic field. This effect occurs when radio waves pass through regions filled with electrons and magnetic fields, causing the waves to shift. "You can think of it like refraction. A straw in a glass of water looks bent because of how light interacts with matter," says Rebecca Booth, a PhD candidate working with Brown and lead author of the second study. "Faraday rotation is a similar concept, but it's electrons and magnetic fields in space interacting with radio waves." By analyzing these subtle changes in radio signals, the team was able to map how the magnetic field is arranged across vast stretches of the galaxy.
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