Most remote galactic magnetic field found in early universe
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A powerful ground-based telescope has detected a magnetic field in a most distant galaxy, making it an unprecedented discovery. To date, astronomers have mostly detected and mapped magnetic fields in nearby galaxies.
This galaxy, named 9io9, however, is situated at such an immense distance that its light has traveled for over 11 billion years before reaching the Earth. This means we are observing it as it existed when the universe was a mere 2.5 billion years old.
Magnetic fields can be found almost everywhere in the universe. They exist on various scales, from the smallest, like those around individual atoms, to the largest, such as the magnetic fields of stars and galaxies. Although, the characteristics and strength of these fields can vary widely from one galaxy to another.
This discovery could offer crucial insights into the origins of magnetic fields in galaxies, including our own Milky Way. The origin and characteristics of galactic magnetic fields are still areas of active research in astrophysics.
“Many people might not be aware that our entire galaxy and other galaxies are laced with magnetic fields, spanning tens of thousands of light-years,” said James Geach, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Hertfordshire, UK, and lead author of this new study, in an official release.
The discovery raises a fresh question about the enigmatic early universe: How early and how fast did magnetic fields in early galaxies come into existence during the initial years of the universe?
The observations using ALMA
The latest observations were derived from the data collected by the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) based in Chile.
To make this incredible finding, scientists turned their attention to the light emitted by minuscule dust particles within the galaxy.
According to the official release, when galaxies have a magnetic field, these dust particles tend to align, causing the produced light to become polarized.
Simply put, light waves begin to move in a certain path rather than randomly.
When the telescope detected and mapped a polarized signal from galaxy 9io9, it was the first proof of a magnetic field in a distant galaxy. “No other telescope could have achieved this,” said Geach.
Fully formed magnetic fields
The observations unveiled the existence of a "fully formed magnetic field" in this galaxy, exhibiting a structure akin to what is typically observed in nearby galaxies.
The magnetic field is estimated to be 1,000 times less powerful than Earth's, yet it spans a distance exceeding 16,000 light-years.
The discovery of a fully developed magnetic field at such an early stage of the universe suggests that magnetic fields encompassing whole galaxies can form rapidly during the development phase of young galaxies.
The team hypothesizes that vigorous star formation in this early galaxy may have led to the rapid creation of these fields. Furthermore, these magnetic fields have the ability to fuel the process by which the next generations of stars form.
“This discovery gives us new clues as to how galactic-scale magnetic fields are formed,” added Geach.
Magnetic fields are essential for understanding many astrophysical processes, including star formation, properties of charged particles in space, and the evolution of galaxies. This notable study further expands our knowledge of magnetic fields' presence in the universe’s infancy.
The study results were reported in the journal Nature.
Study abstract:
Magnetic fields are fundamental to the evolution of galaxies, playing a key role in the astrophysics of the interstellar medium and star formation. Large-scale ordered magnetic fields have been mapped in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, but it is not known how early in the Universe such structures formed. Here we report the detection of linearly polarized thermal emission from dust grains in a strongly lensed, intrinsically luminous galaxy that is forming stars at a rate more than 1,000 times that of the Milky Way at redshift 2.6, within 2.5 Gyr of the Big Bang. The polarized emission arises from the alignment of dust grains with the local magnetic field. The median polarization fraction is of the order of 1%, similar to nearby spiral galaxies. Our observations support the presence of a 5-kiloparsec-scale ordered magnetic field with a strength of around 500 μG or lower, oriented parallel to the molecular gas disk. This confirms that such structures can be rapidly formed in galaxies, early in cosmic history.
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