Abstract
TURBULENCE in the interstellar medium transfers energy from parsec-sized regions to much smaller scales, and may be respon-sible for supporting clouds against gravitational collapse1. Fluctua-tions in the electron density, which trace turbulence, occur on scales ranging from 106 to >1013 cm—the largest range of spatial scales seen in natural turbulence. Despite almost thirty years of study, however, the causes and effects of interstellar turbulence are still poorly understood. Here we present observations of OH masers in the Galactic star-forming complex W49N, which we use as point sources to investigate scattering along the line of sight. The masers' images are elliptical, and aligned roughly perpendicular to the Galactic plane. This alignment suggests that the magnetic field of our Galaxy influences interstellar turbulence2'3 by mediating the transfer of energy from large to small spatial scales.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Rickett, B. A. Rev. Astr. Astrophys. 28, 561–605 (1990).
Higdon, J. C. Astrophys. J. 285, 109–123 (1984).
Goldreich, P. & Sridhar, S. Astrophys. J. (in the press).
Gwinn, C. R. Astrophys. J. 429, 253–267 (1994).
Diamond, P. J., Martinson, A., Dennison, B., Booth, R. S. & Winnberg, A. in Radio Wave Scattering in the Interstellar Medium (eds Cordes, J. M., Rickett, B. & Backer, D. C.) 195–198 (Am. Inst. of Phys., New York, 1988).
Kent, S. R. & Mutel, R. L. Astrophys. J. 263, 145–152 (1982).
Clark, B. G. Proc. Inst. electcl electron, engr. 61, 1242–1248 (1973).
Narayan, R. & Hubbard, W. B. Astrophys. J. 325, 503–518 (1988).
Romani, R. W., Narayan, R. & Blandford, R. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 220, 19–49 (1986).
Rickett, B. J., Coles, W. A. & Bourgois, G. Astr. Astrophys. 134, 390–395 (1984).
Beuermann, K., Kanbach, G. & Berkhuijsen, E. M. Astr. Astrophys. 153, 17–34 (1985).
Phillips, S., Kearsey, S., Osborne, J. L., Haslam, C. G. T. & Stoffel, H. Astr. Astrophys. 103, 405–414 (1981).
Rao, A. R. & Ananthakrishnan, S. Nature 312, 707–711 (1984).
Cordes, J. M., Weisberg, J. M. & Boriakoff, V. Astrophys. J. 288, 221–247 (1985).
Dennison, B. et al. Astr. Astrophys. 135, 199–212 (1984).
Gwinn, C. R., Bartel, N. & Cordes, J. M. Astrophys. J. 410, 673–685 (1993).
Fey, A. L., Spangler, S. R. & Cordes, J. M. Astrophys. J. 372, 132–160 (1991).
Gottesman, S. T. & Gordon, M. A. Astrophys. J. 162, L93–L97 (1970).
Spangler, S. R. & Gwinn, C. R. Astrophys. J. 353, L29–L32 (1990).
Anantharamiah, K. R. in Radio Wave Scattering in the Interstellar Medium (eds Cordes, J. M., Rickett, B. & Backer, D. C.) 185–189 (Am. Inst. of Phys., New York, 1988).
Spangler, S. R., Mutel, R. L., Benson, J. M. & Cordes, J. M. Astrophys. J. 301, 312–319 (1986).
Spangler, S. R., Fey, A. L. & Cordes, J. M. Astrophys. J. 322, 909–916 (1987).
Kolmogorov, A. N. Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 30, 301–305 (1941).
Richardson, L. F. Weather Prediction by Numerical Process 66 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1922).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Desai, K., Gwinn, C. & Diamond, P. Evidence for magnetic-field-induced anisotropy of the interstellar medium. Nature 372, 754–756 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1038/372754a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/372754a0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.