T. L. Landecker

ANTISYMMETRY IN THE FARADAY ROTATION SKY CAUSED BY A NEARBY MAGNETIZED BUBBLE

Rotation measures (RMs) of pulsars and extragalactic point sources have been known to reveal large-scale antisymmetries in the Faraday rotation sky with respect to the Galactic plane and halo that have been interpreted as signatures of the mean magnetic field in the Galactic halo. We describe Faraday rotation measurements of the diffuse Galactic polarized radio emission over a large region in the northern Galactic hemisphere. Through application of RM synthesis we achieve sensitive Faraday rotation maps with high angular resolution, capable of revealing fine-scale structures of ~1° in the Faraday rotation sky. Our analysis suggests that the observed antisymmetry in the Faraday rotation sky at b>0° is dominated by the magnetic field around a local H I bubble at a distance of 100 pc, and not by the magnetic field of the Galactic halo. We derive physical properties of the magnetic field of this shell, which we find to be 20-34 μG strong. It is clear that the diffuse polarized radio emission contains important information about the local magneto-ionic medium, which cannot yet be derived from Faraday RMs of extragalactic sources or pulsars alone.

Measuring magnetism in the Milky Way with the Square Kilometre Array

Magnetic fields in the Milky Way are present on a wide variety of sizes and strengths, influencing many processes in the Galactic ecosystem such as star formation, gas dynamics, jets, and evolution of supernova remnants or pulsar wind nebulae. Observation methods are complex and indirect; the most used of these are a grid of rotation measures of unresolved polarized extragalactic sources, and broadband polarimetry of diffuse emission. Current studies of magnetic fields in the Milky Way reveal a global spiral magnetic field with a significant turbulent component; the limited sample of magnetic field measurements in discrete objects such as supernova remnants and HII regions shows a wide variety in field configurations; a few detections of magnetic fields in Young Stellar Object jets have been published; and the magnetic field structure in the Galactic Center is still under debate. The SKA will unravel the 3D structure and configurations of magnetic fields in the Milky Way on sub-parsec to galaxy scales, including field structure in the Galactic Center. The global configuration of the Milky Way disk magnetic field, probed through pulsar RMs, will resolve controversy about reversals in the Galactic plane. Characteristics of interstellar turbulence can be determined from the grid of background RMs. We expect to learn to understand magnetic field structures in protostellar jets, supernova remnants, and other discrete sources, due to the vast increase in sample sizes possible with the SKA. This knowledge of magnetic fields in the Milky Way will not only be crucial in understanding of the evolution and interaction of Galactic structures, but will also help to define and remove Galactic foregrounds for a multitude of extragalactic and cosmological studies. Advancing Astrophysics with the Square Kilometre Array

Broadband Polarimetry with the Square Kilometre Array: A Unique Astrophysical Probe

Faraday rotation of polarised background sources is a unique probe of astrophysical magnetic fields in a diverse range of foreground objects. However, to understand the properties of the polarised sources themselves and of depolarising phenomena along the line of sight, we need to complement Faraday rotation data with polarisation observations over very broad bandwidths. Just as it is impossible to properly image a complex source with limited u-v coverage, we can only meaningfully understand the magneto-ionic properties of polarised sources if we have excellent coverage in

Survey Science with ASKAP: Polarization Sky Survey of the Universe's Magnetism (POSSUM)

lambda^2

THE HI ENVIRONMENT OF FILLED-CENTRE SUPERNOVA REMNANTS. I. G 74.9+1.2

-space. We here propose a set of broadband polarisation surveys with the Square Kilometre Array, which will provide a singular set of scientific insights on the ways in which galaxies and their environments have evolved over cosmic time.