Magnetic Fields in the Center of the Perseus Cluster

• Main Authors: Taylor, G. B, Gugliucci, N. E, Fabian, A. C, Sanders, J. S, Gentile, G, Allen, S. W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 28-02-2006
• Subjects: Physics - Astrophysics of Galaxies; Physics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics; Physics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics; Physics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena; Physics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics; Physics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/0602622

Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc.368:1500-1506,2006 We present Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations of the nucleus of NGC
1275, the central, dominant galaxy in the Perseus cluster of galaxies. These
are the first observations to resolve the linearly polarized emission from
3C84, and from them we determine a Faraday rotation measure (RM) ranging from
6500 to 7500 rad/m^2 across the tip of the bright southern jet component. At 22
GHz some polarization is also detected from the central parsec of 3C84,
indicating the presence of even more extreme RMs that depolarize the core at
lower frequencies. The nature of the Faraday screen is most consistent with
being produced by magnetic fields associated with the optical filaments of
ionized gas in the Perseus Cluster.