Subj : Daily APOD Report To : All From : Ben Ritchey Date : Mon Mar 11 2019 06:39:08 Astronomy Picture of the Day Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2019 March 11 [2] The Central Magnetic Field of the Cigar Galaxy Image Credit: NASA [3] , SOFIA [4] , E. Lopez-Rodriguez [5] ; NASA [6] , Spitzer [7] , J. Moustakas et al. Explanation: Are galaxies giant magnets? Yes, but the magnetic fields in galaxies [8] are typically much weaker than on Earth's [9] surface, as well as more complex [10] and harder to measure. Recently, though, the HAWC+ instrument [11] onboard the airborne ( 747 [12] ) SOFIA observatory [13] has been successful in detailing distant magnetic fields [14] by observing infrared [15] light polarized [16] by reflection [17] from dust grains. Featured here, HAWC+ observations of the M82, the Cigar galaxy [18] , show that the central magnetic field [19] is perpendicular [20] to the disk and parallel to the strong supergalactic wind [21] . This observation bolsters [22] the hypothesis that M82's central magnetic field helps its wind transport the mass of millions of stars out from the central star-burst region. The featured image [23] shows magnetic field lines superposed on top of an optical light (gray) and hydrogen gas [24] (red) image from Kitt Peak National Observatory [25] , further combined with (link)infrared images (yellow) from SOFIA and the Spitzer Space Telescope. The Cigar Galaxy [27] is about 12 million light years [28] distant and visible with binoculars [29] towards the constellation of the Great Bear [30] . Tomorrow's picture: touchdown on ryugu ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- < [31] | Archive [32] | Submissions [33] | Index [34] | Search [35] | Calendar [36] | RSS [37] | Education [38] | About APOD [39] | Discuss [40] | > [41] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [42] (MTU [43] ) & Jerry Bonnell [44] (UMCP [45] ) NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [46] . NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [47] A service of: ASD [48] at NASA [49] / GSFC [50] & Michigan Tech. U. [51] ---------- Site notes: [1] archivepix.html [2] image/1903/M82Magnet_SOFIA_2412.jpg [3] http://www.nasa.gov [4] https://www.sofia.usra.edu/ [5] https://www.sofia.usra.edu/science/science-team/enrique-lopez-rodriguez [6] https://www.nasa.gov [7] http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/mission/32-Mission-Overview [8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy#Magnetic_fields [9] ap021125.html [10] http://media.slaplaughter.danoah.com/wp-content/uploads/20171208004046/ toilet-paper.jpeg [11] https://www.nasa.gov/ames/image-feature/one-of-a-kind-camera-added-to-sofia [12] https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/sofiaoversierra.jpg [13] https://www.sofia.usra.edu/multimedia/about-sofia [14] ap190227.html [15] https://science.nasa.gov/ems/07_infraredwaves [16] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarization_(waves) [17] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJHCADY-Bio [18] ap160221.html [19] https://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/Imagnet.html [20] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpendicular#/media/ File:Perpendicular-coloured.svg [21] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactic_winds [22] https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/aaf8b9 [23] https://www.nasa.gov/feature/ weighing-galactic-wind-provides-clues-to-evolution-of-galaxies [24] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-alpha [25] https://www.noao.edu/kpno/ [26] http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/info/277-Fast-Facts [27] ap130704.html [28] https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/en/ [29] http://umich.edu/~lowbrows/guide/eye.html [30] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursa_Major [31] ap190310.html [32] archivepix.html [33] lib/apsubmit2015.html [34] lib/aptree.html [35] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search [36] calendar/allyears.html [37] /apod.rss [38] lib/edlinks.html [39] lib/about_apod.html [40] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=190311 [41] ap190312.html [42] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html [43] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ [44] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html [45] http://www.astro.umd.edu/ [46] lib/about_apod.html#srapply [47] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html [48] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ [49] https://www.nasa.gov/ [50] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ [51] http://www.mtu.edu/ --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A43 (Windows/32) * Origin: FIDONet - The Positronium Repository (1:393/68) .