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on Twitter The mention of cosmic-scale magnetic fields is still
likely to met with an uncomfortable silence in some astronomical
circles – and after a bit of foot-shuffling and throat-clearing,
the discussion will be moved on to safer topics. But look,
they’re out there. They probably do play a role in galaxy
evolution, if not galaxy formation – and are certainly a feature
of the interstellar medium and the intergalactic medium. It is
expected that the next generation of radio telescopes, such as
LOFAR (Low Frequency Array) and the SKA (Square Kilometre
Array), will make it possible to map these fields in
unprecedented detail – so even if it turns out that cosmic
magnetic fields only play a trivial role in large-scale
cosmology – it’s at least worth having a look. At the stellar
level, magnetic fields play a key role in star formation, by
enabling a protostar to unload angular momentum. Essentially,
the protostar’s spin is slowed by magnetic dra