RSAA Colloquia / Seminars / Feast-of-Facts: Friday, 04 August 2017, 14:00-14:20; Duffield Lecture Theatre


Alec Thomson

"Thesis annual review: Magnetic fields of a Galactic Supershell"

Magnetic fields are known to play a crucial role in the interstellar medium (ISM) of the Galaxy. Radio polarimetry provides an excellent method of measuring magnetic fields in the ISM. Galactic supershells are some of the largest structures in the Galactic ISM, and should perturb the structure of Galactic magnetic fields. I will present my work determining the structure and strength of magnetic fields associated with a Galactic supershell. This was achieved by modelling the effect of the magnetic fields on polarised radio continuum emission, and fitted using maximum likelihood techniques. I will also discuss my recent visit to the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory in Canada, and present some preliminary results from the Southern low-frequency Galactic Magneto-Ionic Medium Survey.