Magnetic Field of the Spiral Galaxy NGC 4217

© Dr. Yelena Stein (Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg (CDS))

The spiral galaxy NGC 4217 has a huge magnetic field that is shown here as green lines. For this visualisation Yelena Stein combined data, which were observed with the radio telescope Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) of the National Science Foundation. The image of the edge-on galaxy is taken from data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (http://www.sdss.org) and Kitt Peak National Observatory.

Superbubbles, giant loops and X-shaped magnetic field structures extending 22,500 light-years beyond the galaxy’s disk – this galaxy boasts a veritable wealth of shapes. How such structures are formed is still a mystery. The dynamo theory, a leading explanation for this, suggests that magnetic fields are generated by shear forces on vertical turbulent gas motions in the galaxy’s disk. A new study led by Yelena Stein within the framework of the CHANG-ES project (“Continuum HAlos in Nearby Galaxies -- an EVLA Survey”) analyzed the magnetic field of the galaxy NGC 4217 in detail. Yelena Stein created this image to shift the magnetic fields in galaxies more into focus.

The results are reported in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics: “CHANG-ES XXI. Transport processes and the X-shaped magnetic field of NGC 4217: off-center superbubble structure”, Stein et al. 2020 (DOI: https://www.aanda.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202037675).

Credit: Y. Stein (CDS), NRAO, SDSS, KPNO 0.9m, J. English (U. Manitoba), R.-J. Dettmar and A. Miskolczi (RUB), R.J. Rand (U.N.M.), and J. Irwin (Queen’s U.)