Bibcode
Beckman, John E.; Relaño, Mónica
Bibliographical reference
Cosmic Magnetic Fields: From Planets, to Stars and Galaxies, Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, IAU Symposium, Volume 259, p. 541-542
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4
2009
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
We have measured the emission line profiles in Hα from populations
of HII regions in nearby spiral galaxies, and extracted their
non-thermal line widths. These are supersonic for the more luminous
regions. We infer from plots of line width, σ, against Hα
luminosity, a set of regions in virial equilibrium, and derive their
masses summing all known components. The virial masses are considerably
larger. If this discrepancy, and the supersonic line widths, are due to
the presence of magnetic fields, we can estimate their strengths at a
few microgauss. Observational confirmation is clearly required.