Astrophysical magnetic fields articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves observed on the Sun help understanding solar plasma and involved processes. Here, the authors show resolved MHD waves in the solar corona displaying MHD lensing effect.

    • Xinping Zhou
    • , Yuandeng Shen
    •  & Chengrui Zhou
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The interstellar medium (ISM) is critical to galaxy evolution. Here, the authors show dust processing modelling applied to magnetohydrodynamic simulations to explicitly follow dust destruction by the combined effects of grain-grain collisions and ion-sputtering induced by a supernova blast wave in a turbulent multiphase, magnetized ISM.

    • Florian Kirchschlager
    • , Lars Mattsson
    •  & Frederick A. Gent
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The current understanding of the origin and properties of cluster magnetic fields is limited by observational challenges. Here, the authors show that magnetic field orientations of galaxy clusters, including radio relic and radio halos, can be derived via combination of synchrotron intensity gradient technique with radio observations.

    • Yue Hu
    • , C. Stuardi
    •  & Ka Wai Ho
  • Article
    | Open Access

    A fundamental feature of planetary magnetospheres is internal convection induced by surrounding solar wind. Here, authors offer insights into the interplay among solar wind, magnetosphere, and ionosphere, and evidence a dayside-driven convection pattern linked to magnetic-field-aligned currents.

    • Lei Dai
    • , Minghui Zhu
    •  & Graziella Branduardi-Raymont
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Gamma-ray observations indicate that cosmic voids may host magnetic fields. Here, the authors show that relics of fields from the early Universe could be consistent with these observations if their decay is mediated by magnetic reconnection and conserves the mean square fluctuation level of magnetic helicity.

    • David N. Hosking
    •  & Alexander A. Schekochihin
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magnetized plasmas display continuous spectra of current-sheet equilibria. How they select a particular equilibrium is not well understood. Now, equilibrium selection in magnetized plasmas is studied by analytical theory, particle-in-cell simulations and spacecraft observations, highlighting the role of current-sheet relaxation processes.

    • Young Dae Yoon
    • , Deirdre E. Wendel
    •  & Gunsu S. Yun
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Co-existence of several magnetohydrodynamic oscillations modes on the Sun were predicted earlier. Here, the authors show large-scale coherent oscillations in a sunspot, with a spectrum different than solar global acoustic oscillations, incorporating a superposition of many resonant wave modes.

    • M. Stangalini
    • , G. Verth
    •  & C. D. MacBride
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magnetic reconnection and plasma turbulence occur in atmospheric and magnetized laboratory plasmas. Here the authors report evolution of magnetic islands and plasma turbulence in tokamak plasmas using high resolution 2D electron cyclotron emission diagnostics.

    • Minjun J. Choi
    • , Lāszlo Bardōczi
    •  & George McKee
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Interstellar magnetic fields determined from pulsar polarimetry in the GHz-band may be biased by mechanical-optical rotation in pulsars’ magnetospheres. Here the authors show how observations at sub-GHz frequencies can be used to resolve such a bias and determine pulsar rotation directions.

    • Renaud Gueroult
    • , Yuan Shi
    •  & Nathaniel J. Fisch
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The presence of magnetic fields in protostellar jets has been predicted theoretically, but its experimental confirmation has been elusive so far. Here, the authors report the detection of SiO line polarisation in the HH 211 protostellar jet, indicative of the onset of magnetic fields.

    • Chin-Fei Lee
    • , Hsiang-Chih Hwang
    •  & Paul. T. P Ho