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Credit & Copyright: Optical: European Southern Observatory (ESO) Wide Field Imager;
Submillimeter: Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy/ESO/Atacama Pathfinder Experiment
(APEX)/A.Weiss et al;
X-ray and Infrared: NASA/Chandra/R. Kraft; JPL-Caltech/J. Keene;
Text: Joan
Schmelz
(USRA)
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 galaxiesÁ 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.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Centaurus A - magnetic field
Publications with words: Centaurus A - magnetic field
See also:
- APOD: 2025 July 30 Á Coronal Loops on the Sun
- APOD: 2024 December 11 Á The Shells and Jets of Galaxy Centaurus A
- APOD: 2023 May 3 Á Centaurus A: A Peculiar Island of Stars
- Centaurus A
- EHT Resolves Central Jet from Black Hole in Cen A
- The Vertical Magnetic Field of NGC 5775
- Jets from Unusual Galaxy Centaurus A