Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

Clusters of galaxies, filled with hot, magnetised plasma, are the largest bound objects in existence and an important touchstone in understanding the formation of structures in our Universe. Because in clusters, thermal conduction follows field lines, magnetic fields strongly shape the cluster's thermal history, which remains mysterious; some should have long since cooled and collapsed. In a seemingly unrelated puzzle, recent observations of Virgo cluster spiral galaxies imply ridges of strong, coherent magnetic fields offset from their centre. Here I demonstrate, using 3D magneto-hydrodynamical simulations, that such ridges are easily explained by galaxies sweeping up field lines as they orbit inside the cluster. This magnetic drape is then literally lit up with cosmic rays from the galaxies' stars, generating coherent polarised emission at the galaxies' leading edges. This immediately presents a first technique for probing local orientations and characteristic length scales of cluster magnetic fields. The first application of this technique, mapping the field of the Virgo cluster, gives a startling result - outside a central region, the magnetic field is preferentially oriented radially. Our results strongly suggest a mechanism for maintaining some clusters in a `non-cooling-core' state.