Nascent galaxy's magnetic field measured

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- U.S. astronomers using the world's largest fully steerable radio telescope have obtained the first direct measurement of a nascent galaxy's magnetic field.

Astronomers led by Professor Arthur Wolfe of the University of California-San Diego said the measurement of the magnetic field was as it appeared 6.5 billion years ago and is at least 10 times greater than the average value in the Milky Way.

"This was a complete surprise," said Wolfe. "The magnetic field we measured is at least an order of magnitude larger than the average value of the magnetic field detected in our own galaxy."

The researchers made the discovery using the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope at Green Bank, W.Va., operated by the National Science Foundation's National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

The study that included graduate students Regina Jorgenson and Timothy Robishaw and astronomers from the University of California campuses at Berkeley, San Diego and Santa Cruz is reported in the journal Nature.