On the Magnetic Field of the Galaxy
Open Access
- 1 February 1960
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Vol. 120 (2) , 173-186
- https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/120.2.173
Abstract
The view that the spiral arms of the Galaxy are tubes of force winding into, and out of, the galactic nucleus is considered. It is shown that the winding of such a tube in the differential rotational field of the Galaxy leads to a degree of wrapping of about the observed order in a time interval as short as 400 million years. It appears likely that a further winding of the field must lead to the outbreak of instabilities in which loops of the magnetic field emerge out of the plane of the Galaxy. It is suggested that the magnetic field of the galactic halo is built from a multitude of such loops. The rate at which energy passes from the orbital motion of gas in the Galaxy, first into magnetic energy, and then into random dynamical turbulence is computed. The result is 10 −27 erg cm −3 sec −1 , a value in close agreement with the estimated rate of dissipation of the turbulence of the interstellar gas.Keywords
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