Magnetic field in the SMC

Consistent negative rotation measures (RMs) across the SMC indicate that the line-of-sight magnetic field is directed uniformly away from us with a strength 0.19+/-0.06{mu}G. Applying the Chandrasekhar-Fermi method to starlight polarization data yields an ordered magnetic field in the plane of the sky of strength 1.6+/-0.4uG oriented at a position angle 4+/-12{deg}, measured counterclockwise from the great circle on the sky joining the SMC to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC).

We construct a three-dimensional magnetic field model of the SMC, under the assumption that the RMs and starlight polarization probe the same underlying large-scale field. further test the pan-Magellanic field hypothesis.