This week at the National Astronomy Meeting (NAM 2015) in Wales, scientists working with the Planck Satellite, including Mike Peel and Paddy Leahy, revealed a new polarization map of the Milky Way in microwaves. This particular view of the electromagnetic loop discovered more than half of a century ago, has never been seen before.
“It’s a full sky map showing synchrotron loops and spurs in which charged particles spiral around magnetic fields; this form of electromagnetic radiation is emitted when charged particles travel in curved paths,” according to researchers.
“One of these loops, dubbed Loop 1, accounts for a rather large portion of our wide field view. Astronomers aren’t sure how far away it is, with estimates ranging between 400 to 25,000 light-years away. It’s thus difficult to know just how large it really is,” the astronomers added.