Our Galaxy's Magnetic Center

Explanation: What's the magnetic field like in the center of our Milky Way Galaxy? To help find out, NASA's SOFIA -- an observatory flying in a modified 747 -- imaged the central region with an instrument known as HAWC+. HAWC+ maps magnetism by observing polarized infrared light emitted by elongated dust grains rotating in alignment with the local magnetic field . Now at our Milky Way's center is a supermassive black hole with a hobby of absorbing gas from stars it has recently destroyed . Our galaxy's black hole, though, is relatively quiet compared to the absorption rate of the central black holes in active galaxies . The featured image gives a clue as to why -- a surrounding magnetic field may either channel gas into the black hole -- which lights up its exterior, or forces gas into an accretion-disk holding pattern, causing it to be less active -- at least temporarily. Inspection of the featured image -- appearing perhaps like a surreal mashup of impasto art and gravitational astrophysics -- brings out this telling clue by detailing the magnetic field in and around a dusty ring surrounding Sagittarius A* , the black hole in our Milky Way's center .