Halo of Currents and Magnetic Fields Around Galaxies

[BecomingTesla]

10.13.2015 - http://phys.org/news/2015-10-vla-reveal ... piral.html - my own comments in [ ]

An international team of astronomers using the VLA studied thirty-five edge-on spiral galaxies, ~11-137M light-years from Earth. The study utilized the VLA’s ability to detect radio emission much fainter than previously possible [such as, perhaps, syncrotron radiation that is being damped by the plasma in the halo]. The study discovered that plasma halos, such as the ones around the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxy, are in fact much more common among spiral galaxies than previously though. “Using the full power of the upgraded VLA and the full power of some advanced image-processing techniques, we found that these halos are much more common among spiral galaxies than we have realized.” Learning about the environment above and below the galactic disk [where the majority of the stars, plasma and dust is found] has been difficult without the us of the VLA. “Studying these halos with radio telescopes can give us valuable information about…the rate of star formation within the disk, the winds from exploding stars, and the nature and origin of the galaxies’ magnetic fields.” The team scaled the images taken of thirty of the galaxies to the same diameter, and combined them together into a single image. The result is “a spectacular image showing that cosmic rays [cosmic rays are nothing but currents of positive electricity, consisting of a majority of protons] and magnetic fields not only permeate the galaxy disk itself [meaning that they've observed positive currents flowing throughout the galaxy], but extend far above and below the disk.” Apparently, this observation confirms a theory asserted in 1961, but the article does not mention who made it. “The results from this survey will help answer many unresolved questions in galactic evolution and star formation.”

It stands as an amazing testament to Alfven’s framework/perspective that he predicted our ability to discover these currents and fields through the development of telescopes exactly like the VLA. I've read articles published by him from back in the 50-60s, saying that the construction of these instruments would absolutely help us in discovering these features. Frankly, I don't think the mainstream's criticism of his overall ideas has any legs to stand on. Do they remain to updated/quantified/polished through direct experimentation? Absolutely - Alfven's ideas were almost never fully-fleshed out or quantified, someone else always had to come along and do it for him. I think that stands to the rest of us in terms of his ideas on galaxy formation, but between the all of the observations made just this year alone, anyone unwilling to at least learn about his ideas are really doing themselves a disservice: the man was right, galaxies are electrical objects.