Collaborative Research: Magnetic Filaments at the Center of our Milky Way Galaxy

射电天文学家在银河系中心附近发现了惊人的磁场结构。这些被称为细丝的结构比简单的热气云要复杂得多。这些细丝的长度是许多光年。这些细丝被认为是射电望远镜可以看到的，因为高能粒子沿着非常长的磁场运行。研究人员将使用NSF甚大阵列(VLA)射电望远镜研究这些丝状结构的详细物理特征。爱荷华大学和加州大学洛杉矶分校将开展博物馆和公共活动。研究人员将研究在银河中心的无线电图像中观察到的非热丝结构。这项研究将利用位于新墨西哥州的美国国家科学基金会射电望远镜VLA的新功能，获得这些结构的详细物理信息，包括偏振分析。该项目的成果对天文学的其他领域具有重要影响，特别是对其他星系的活动星系核的研究，以及磁场在吸积黑洞环境中的作用。在爱荷华大学，这位调查员将与一名本科生合作开发一个博物馆展览。调查人员还将参加博物馆活动和系列讲座。在加州大学洛杉矶分校，另一名调查员将参与公共教育活动，以及培训来自代表性不足背景的本科生。

Radio astronomers have discovered remarkable magnetic field structures near the center of our Milky Way galaxy. These structures, called filaments, are much more complicated than simple hot clouds of gas. These filaments are many light years in length. The filaments are thought to be visible to radio telescopes because high-energy particles are orbiting along very long magnetic fields. The investigators will study the detailed physical characteristics of these filamentary structures using the NSF Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope. Museum and public events will be developed at both the University of Iowa and the University of California at Los Angeles.The investigators will study non-thermal filamentary structures observed in the radio images of the Galactic Center. This study will exploit the new capabilities of the VLA, an NSF radio telescope in New Mexico, to obtain detailed physical information of these structures, including polarization analysis. The outcomes of this project have important implications in other fields of astronomy, in particular the study of the active galactic nuclei in other galaxies, and the role of magnetic fields in the environments of accreting black holes. At University of Iowa, the investigator will work with an undergraduate to develop a museum exhibit. The investigators will also participate in the museum activities and lecture series. At the University of California at Los Angles, another investigator will participate in public education events, as well as in training undergraduate students from underrepresented backgrounds.