New Galactic Map Reveals Intricate Magnetic Fields at the Milky Way's Star-Birthing Core
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New map offers first-ever view of magnetic fields at the Milky Way's central zone, revealing their relationship with cool dust clouds that form stars.
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Map spans about 500 light-years across the heart of the Milky Way and took 4 years to assemble using infrared telescope aboard a Boeing 747.
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Shows intricate structure of magnetic fields overlaid onto view of hot gas, cool dust clouds, and radio-emitting filaments.
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Reveals some never-before mapped regions and extremely complicated, varying magnetic field directions.
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Researchers will analyze data over next 2 years to better understand connections between disk and vertical magnetic fields in the galaxy's core.