Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 24 April 1964:
Vol. 144. no. 3617, pp. 405 - 409
DOI: 10.1126/science.144.3617.405
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

The Exploding Galaxy M82: Evidence for the Existence of a Large-Scale Magnetic Field

Allan R. Sandage 1 and William C. Miller 1

1 Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories, Carnegie Institution of Washington, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena

Photographs of galaxy M82 obtained in blue light show the existence of a previously unknown system of large-scale filaments extending 4000 parsec (1.2 X 1022 cm) above and below the fundamental plane of the galaxy along the minor axis. These filaments emit continuous radiation that is highly polarized, with the electric vector predominately perpendicular to the filamentary structure. A plausible interpretation is that the radiation is optical synchrotron emission caused by relativistic electrons spiraling in a large-scale magnetic field. To produce radiation in visual wavelengths, the electron energies must be in the range 103 to 104 Bev if the magnetic field is between 10-5 and 10-6 gauss.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Quasi-Stellar Objects: Possible Local Origin.
J. Terrell (1966)
Science 154, 1281-1288
   Abstract »    PDF »
Triennial Review of Astronomy.
(1964)
Science 146, 627-630
   PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)