Every new generation of eyes sees a new version of our galaxy, the Milky Way.

This Impressionistic swirl of color represents the churning magnetic fields in giant dust clouds near the center of the galaxy.

The map, painted in infrared wavelengths, reveals new details in a stretch of our galactic home 500 light-years wide.

The colors represent different temperatures of interstellar dust. Cool, dense dust is green; warmer dust is pink. The magnetic field lines, showing the direction of force, were undetectable before now.

The map is a first step toward understanding how magnetism can shape the universe.

Out There

The Dusty Magnets ofthe Milky Way

By Dennis Overbye

April 19, 2024

“The nation that controls magnetism will control the universe.” So maintained Dick Tracy, the fictional detective in the comic strip by Chester Gould, in 1962.

But does magnetism control the universe, too?