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                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2021 January 20
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                 The Magnetic Field of the Whirlpool Galaxy
     Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]SOFIA, [5]HAWC+, [6]Alejandro S. Borlaff;
    [7]JPL-Caltech, [8]ESA, [9]Hubble; Text: [10]Jayanne English ([11]U.
                                  Manitoba)

   Explanation: Do magnetic fields always flow along spiral arms? Our
   face-on view of the [12]Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) allows a spectacularly
   clear view of the spiral wave pattern in a disk-shaped galaxy. When
   observed with a [13]radio telescope, the [14]magnetic field appears to
   [15]trace the arms' curvature. However, with NASA's flying
   [16]Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)
   observatory, the [17]magnetic field at the outer edge of [18]M51's disk
   appears to weave across the arms instead. Magnetic fields are inferred
   by [19]grains of dust aligning in one direction and acting [20]like
   polaroid glasses on [21]infrared light. In the [22]featured image, the
   field orientations determined from this polarized light are
   [23]algorithmically connected, creating [24]streamlines. Possibly the
   gravitational tug of the [25]companion galaxy, at the top of the frame,
   on the dusty gas of the reddish star-forming regions, visible in the
   [26]Hubble Space Telescope image, enhances [27]turbulence -- stirring
   the dust and lines to produce the unexpected field pattern of the outer
   arms.

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
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    Authors & editors: [39]Robert Nemiroff ([40]MTU) & [41]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([42]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [43]Specific rights apply.
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                A service of: [45]ASD at [46]NASA / [47]GSFC
                           & [48]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2101/M51Bfield_Sofia_2286.jpg
   3. https://www.nasa.gov/
   4. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/SOFIA/overview/index.html
   5. https://www.nasa.gov/ames/image-feature/one-of-a-kind-camera-added-to-sofia
   6. https://borlaff.github.io/
   7. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
   8. https://www.esa.int/
   9. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/story/index.html
  10. http://www2.physics.umanitoba.ca/u/english/
  11. https://sci.umanitoba.ca/physics-astronomy/
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190506.html
  13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_telescope
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191216.html
  15. https://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/research/fundamental/cosmag
  16. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/SOFIA/overview/index.html
  17. https://www.universetoday.com/76515/magnetic-field/
  18. https://youtu.be/yiv6a8BVzPE
  19. https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/D/Dust+Grain
  20. https://www.baumer.com/ch/en/service-support/technology-highlights/polarization/a/Polarization
  21. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/07_infraredwaves
  22. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/magnetic-chaos-hidden-within-the-whirlpool-galaxy
  23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_integral_convolution
  24. https://youtu.be/6UlsArvbTeo
  25. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_5195
  26. https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/2005/12/1677-Image.html
  27. https://youtu.be/5zI9sG3pjVU
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210119.html
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  32. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  37. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=210120
  38. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210121.html
  39. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  40. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  41. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  42. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  43. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  44. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  45. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  46. https://www.nasa.gov/
  47. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  48. http://www.mtu.edu/