How this cosmic map of magnetic fields could help illuminate one of the universe’s most mysterious forces

Key points

• A cosmic map of magnetic fields – the largest ever produced – could help scientists delve into one of the major and most mysterious forces in the universe.
• A global team led by Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO charted the magnetic fields by measuring light from nearly 4m galaxies as it twisted and travelled through intergalactic space.
• Dr Alec Thomson, a CSIRO astronomer and astrophysicist said the Earth, stars, galaxies – and the material between galaxies – all had magnetic fields, so the map would enable scientists to investigate fundamental questions about the physics of the universe, and the galaxy we live in.
• “We still don’t actually know how magnetic fields started in the universe, or how they’ve changed across time since the big bang.
• And so this type of map helps us start to answer those questions and be able to look at the details of the magnetic...