Event Details

Dr. Anna Williams, Visiting Assistant Professor, Macalester College, will present this seminar.

Galaxies are permeated with magnetic fields at all scale lengths--from protostellar disks to spiral arms.  But how galaxies first acquired magnetic fields, and, in turn grow and sustain large-scale magnetic structures is not well understood.  One way to unravel this problem is by observing magnetic fields in a variety of galaxy environments. Luckily, new and upgraded radio telescopes are providing a new window to the polarization universe, and greatly enhancing our ability to probe astrophysical magnetic fields. I will present the results of three observational studies focused on the coevolution of magnetic fields and galaxies in different environments: (1) a nearby spiral galaxy, NGC 6946, (2) a loose galaxy group, NGC 2563, and (3) distant disk-like galaxies at z~0.5.

Pizza provided.