¿ Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2021 January 20 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. The Magnetic Field of the Whirlpool Galaxy Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]SOFIA, [5]HAWC+, [6]Alejandro S. Borlaff; [7]JPL-Caltech, [8]ESA, [9]Hubble; Text: [10]Jayanne English ([11]U. Manitoba) Explanation: Do magnetic fields always flow along spiral arms? Our face-on view of the [12]Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) allows a spectacularly clear view of the spiral wave pattern in a disk-shaped galaxy. When observed with a [13]radio telescope, the [14]magnetic field appears to [15]trace the arms' curvature. However, with NASA's flying [16]Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) observatory, the [17]magnetic field at the outer edge of [18]M51's disk appears to weave across the arms instead. Magnetic fields are inferred by [19]grains of dust aligning in one direction and acting [20]like polaroid glasses on [21]infrared light. In the [22]featured image, the field orientations determined from this polarized light are [23]algorithmically connected, creating [24]streamlines. Possibly the gravitational tug of the [25]companion galaxy, at the top of the frame, on the dusty gas of the reddish star-forming regions, visible in the [26]Hubble Space Telescope image, enhances [27]turbulence -- stirring the dust and lines to produce the unexpected field pattern of the outer arms. Tomorrow's picture: open space __________________________________________________________________ [28]< | [29]Archive | [30]Submissions | [31]Index | [32]Search | [33]Calendar | [34]RSS | [35]Education | [36]About APOD | [37]Discuss | [38]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [39]Robert Nemiroff ([40]MTU) & [41]Jerry Bonnell ([42]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [43]Specific rights apply. [44]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [45]ASD at [46]NASA / [47]GSFC & [48]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2101/M51Bfield_Sofia_2286.jpg 3. https://www.nasa.gov/ 4. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/SOFIA/overview/index.html 5. https://www.nasa.gov/ames/image-feature/one-of-a-kind-camera-added-to-sofia 6. https://borlaff.github.io/ 7. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ 8. https://www.esa.int/ 9. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/story/index.html 10. http://www2.physics.umanitoba.ca/u/english/ 11. https://sci.umanitoba.ca/physics-astronomy/ 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190506.html 13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_telescope 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191216.html 15. https://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/research/fundamental/cosmag 16. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/SOFIA/overview/index.html 17. https://www.universetoday.com/76515/magnetic-field/ 18. https://youtu.be/yiv6a8BVzPE 19. https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/D/Dust+Grain 20. https://www.baumer.com/ch/en/service-support/technology-highlights/polarization/a/Polarization 21. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/07_infraredwaves 22. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/magnetic-chaos-hidden-within-the-whirlpool-galaxy 23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_integral_convolution 24. https://youtu.be/6UlsArvbTeo 25. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_5195 26. https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/2005/12/1677-Image.html 27. https://youtu.be/5zI9sG3pjVU 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210119.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 32. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 37. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=210120 38. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210121.html 39. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 40. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 41. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 42. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 43. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 44. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 45. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 46. https://www.nasa.gov/ 47. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 48. http://www.mtu.edu/