21. On the magnetic fields in interstellar space and in nebulae

Abstract

Some aspects of the problem of magnetic fields in the interstellar space and in the nebulae are discussed in this paper. Our observational basis are the numerous photographs of the nebulae in Hα and other rays, taken with high-speed 450 and 640 mm cameras.The greatly elongated shape of many emission nebulae is interpreted as a result of three factors, the effect of the magnetic field, the macroscopic motions in these nebulae (including the tendency to expand) and the high electrical conductivity of matter. The expansion of nebulae is to be generally accompanied by the considerable decrease in brightness (roughly about d–5), but if the expansion is only in one direction, owing to the presence of a regular magnetic field, the brightness decreases much more slowly (roughly about d–2) and the nebulae remain visible for a longer time. The filamentary structure, which is very often inherent to the elongated nebulae, is, probably, an additional factor of a longer visibility of the nebulae under consideration. The great lengthening of nebulae may be reached in the period of the order of 106 years.In the dark nebulae the matter seems to be electrically conductive and the macroscopic motions of the order of 1–2 km/sec are present there, so that there are reasons to suggest that the magnetic field is also responsible for the elongated shape of many dark nebulae. One may prove that the observed elongated shape of dark and emission nebulae could not be caused by differential galactic rotation.