http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space ... our_Galaxy
- Milky Way's magnetic fingerprint
Planck takes magnetic fingerprint of our Galaxy
6 May 2014
Our Galaxy’s magnetic field is revealed in a new image from ESA’s Planck satellite. This image was compiled from the first all-sky observations of ‘polarised’ light emitted by interstellar dust in the Milky Way.
Light is a very familiar form of energy and yet some of its properties are all but hidden to everyday human experience. One of these – polarisation – carries a wealth of information about what happened along a light ray’s path, and can be exploited by astronomers.
Read more at the link up there. Not something I have thought much about or ever thought I'd see a picture of. Pretty neat.
