The North Polar Spur is one of the largest structures in the Milky Way galaxy. A giant plume of bright, polarised emission, it extends into the northern galactic hemisphere, roughly perpendicular to the galactic plane. It cannot be seen at optical wavelengths, but is visible at radio and xray wavelengths.[1][2][3]
It is thought to be produced by ionised gas in a strong magnetic field. Its size, and distance from Earth, are yet to be established.
References
edit- ^ Sun, X. H; Landecker, T. L; Gaensler, B M; Carretti, E; Reich, W; Leahy, J. P; McClure-Griffiths, Naomi; Crocker, Roland; Wolleben, M; Haverkorn, Marijke; Douglas, K.A; Gray, A.D (2018-11-29), FARADAY TOMOGRAPHY OF THE NORTH POLAR SPUR: CONSTRAINTS ON THE DISTANCE TO THE SPUR AND ON THE MAGNETIC FIELD OF THE GALAXY, IOP Publishing, retrieved 14 July 2024
- ^ Clarke, Thomas Roy (1969), Polarization measurements in the region of the North Galactic Spur at 707 MHz, University of Toronto, retrieved 14 July 2024
- ^ Costa, Marco Ernesto (1989-01-01), Southern pulsars, retrieved 14 July 2024
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