The weak magnetic field travels / moves through the universe according to a new study that might solve the mystery from which a large magnetic field comes around galaxies.
Various galaxies such as the Milky Way each have a large-scale magnetic field. Although this magnetic field is weaker than the planet's field, scientists think that various galactic versions help build star formation, guard cosmic rays, and regulate the dynamics of interstellar gas.
Most scientists believe that a stronger magnetic field than "mature" galaxies evolves from a weak "seed" field. But it is not clear where the older terrain is coming from.
Two leading theories: The seed field is created from stimulated gas movement in various protogalactions, or they are produced outside the galaxy by invisible processes at the beginning of the universe.
New observations made with NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope support the idea that the seeds are all there, even before the creation of galaxies.
Based on Fermi data, "we find that these weak magnetic fields should be everywhere, they must be outside the galaxies, fill the whole universe, even when there is no galaxy, no parts, nothing , "Said co-author Andrii Neronov of the University of Geneva, part of the ISDC Center for Astrophysics in Switzerland, as reported by National Geographic.
Because new discoveries suggest that fields may form outside the galaxies, "perhaps the magnetic fields were created before the galaxy formed," says Neronov.
Sowing Seeds for Galactic Fields
According to theory, ancient seed fields may be created from stimulated particles that spew out during violent events such as supernova explosions.
Ultimately, the theory says, a single seed field can enlarge in one galaxy, because the slow spiral of the galaxy causes the stimulated particles and the gases to be unidirectional to the magnetic field lines of the seed.
However, other seed fields will still run through the space between the galaxies and that's what Neronov and his colleagues have found.
More precisely, the team noticed a very high energy deficiency of gamma rays in the Fermi data in the blazars which are galaxies with massive black holes in their central portions that spew out particle emissions almost at the speed of light.
Gamma rays that reach the earth from the blazars should be present at a certain energy level. But the gamma rays seen by Neronov's team seem to have been partially stripped of its power, which would precisely happen if gamma rays interact with a weak magnetic field on its way.
The researchers then mapped out what happens when gamma rays hit a photon, or a light particle. They found that collisions produce electromagnetic activity bundles.
"What we detect may be the beginning of this weak field, and that can solve the problem from which the magnetic fields in the Milky Way and other galaxies come from, because now we can know the conditions of their beginnings," Neronov said.