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Dust Grains with Magnetic Fields
September 9 , 2025
17 hrs 0 min
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- The Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) led a study confirming dust grain alignment with magnetic fields in the Milky Way.
- The team studied the infrared dark cloud G34.43+0.24, located 12,000 light-years away.
- Dust grains are a few micrometres in size, made of silicates and carbonaceous material, and exist throughout the interstellar medium.
- They play a key role in star and planet formation and cause starlight polarization detected since 1949.
- Polarization data revealed how dust traces magnetic field structures and varies in dense star-forming cores.
- Scientists found that dust behaves differently depending on conditions.
- In some cases, grains align neatly with magnetic fields.
- In others, they spin so fast under strong starlight that they break apart into smaller fragments, weakening the alignment.
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