A Galaxy’s Magnetic Field Highway

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Text, News from the Universe. January 27, 2021.
 
A Galaxy's Magnetic Field Highway. January 27, 221.
 
Image of a galaxy.
 
Text, Galaxy M 82's magnetic fields may be acting like a highway, creating lanes for galactic material to spread far into intergalactic space.
 
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Scientists used NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) data and tools originally developed to study the Sun's magnetic fields.
 
Scientists calculated that M 82's magnetic fields extend outward like the solar wind.
 
The extended magnetic fields could help explain why gas and dust from M 82 have been detected 20,000 light years beyond the galaxy.

The results provide insight into how material moves from inside galaxies to intergalactic space, potentially leading to new galaxy formation.
 
Magnetic field lines illustrated Credit, NASA slash ESA.
 
This news was brought to you in part by the NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, CA