Interstellar magnetic fields as a research area focuses on the origin, structure, strength, and evolution of magnetic fields in the diffuse and dense phases of the interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies. It integrates observational probes (e.g., Faraday rotation, Zeeman splitting, synchrotron emission, dust polarization) with magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) theory and simulations to understand how magnetic fields influence star formation, cosmic-ray propagation, ISM turbulence, and galactic dynamos. The field also investigates magnetic coupling between different ISM phases, feedback from stellar winds and supernovae on field topology, and the role of magnetization in shaping filaments, molecular clouds, and large-scale galactic structures.
One of the longest stellar dimming events ever observed was likely caused by the gigantic saucer-like rings of either an unseen brown dwarf or "super-Jupiter" blocking its host star's light, astronomers say. For decades, ...
Astronomy
Feb 11, 2026
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A UBC Okanagan-led research project has given a group of international scientists their clearest view yet of the Milky Way's magnetic field, revealing that it is far more complex than previously believed.
Astronomy
Jan 29, 2026
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79
Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international team of astronomers has mapped a magnetic highway driving a powerful galactic wind into the nearby galaxy merger of Arp 220, revealing for the ...
Astronomy
Jan 27, 2026
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Clues about how galaxies like our Milky Way form and evolve and why their stars show surprising chemical patterns have been revealed by a new study.
Astronomy
Dec 8, 2025
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106
The sun will someday die. This will happen when it runs out of hydrogen fuel in its core and can no longer produce energy through nuclear fusion as it does now. The death of the sun is often thought of as the end of the solar ...
Astrobiology
Aug 28, 2025
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60
Scientists have devised a new method for mapping the spottiness of distant stars by using observations from NASA missions of orbiting planets crossing their stars' faces. The model builds on a technique researchers have used ...
Planetary Sciences
Aug 25, 2025
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39
An international team, led by Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço (IA) researcher Ângela Santos, has made the first measurement of the magnetic field of β Hydri, a nearby aged solar analog subgiant star. This result, ...
Astronomy
Jun 23, 2025
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66
Astronomers from the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) in India and elsewhere have employed the Devasthal Fast Optical Telescope (DFOT) to conduct long-term photometric observations of an open ...
Astronomers have developed a computer simulation to explore, in unprecedented detail, magnetism and turbulence in the interstellar medium (ISM)—the vast ocean of gas and charged particles that lies between stars in the Milky ...
Astronomy
May 13, 2025
0
110
As part of ESA/Hubble's 35th anniversary celebrations, the European Space Agency (ESA) shared new images that revisited stunning, previously released Hubble targets with the addition of the latest Hubble data and new processing ...
Astronomy
Apr 28, 2025
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