Milky Way's magnetism mapped in a new broadband survey offering fresh insights into cosmic evolution.

A UBC Okanagan-led team used the DRAO 15‑metre telescope to produce DRAGONS, the first broadband Faraday rotation map of the northern sky, and found that more than half the sky shows complex magnetic structures.

A UBC Okanagan-led research project has produced the DRAGONS dataset, the first broadband Faraday rotation map of the northern sky, based on observations with the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (DRAO) 15‑metre telescope. The work is part of the Global Magneto‑Ionic Medium Survey (GMIMS) and was led at DRAO by former UBCO postdoctoral researcher Dr. Anna Ordog with contributions from Dr. Alex Hill and others. The survey captures polarized radio emission across a wide frequency range, enabling measurements of magnetic field strength, structure and direction along the line of sight. Students from UBC Okanagan and the University of Calgary participated in the project, helping with instrument testing, interference identification and data quality assessment. Key findings: - DRAGONS is the first broadband Faraday rotation map covering the entire northern sky using the DRAO 15m telescope. - The dataset shows that more than half the sky is "Faraday complex," with magnetic structures more intricate than earlier, simplified models suggested. - The 15m telescope was used for its rapid scanning capability and this was its first scientific survey use, after serving as a prototype instrument for the SKA. - The results were published in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series and have already been used in accompanying studies, including work on a large‑scale magnetic field reversal. - DRAGONS is a Canadian contribution to the international GMIMS effort to map the Milky Way's three‑dimensional magnetic field. Summary: The survey provides a more detailed view of the Milky Way's magnetism and highlights the complexity of magnetic structures across large sky areas. The dataset will be used by researchers to pursue further studies of the Galaxy's three‑dimensional magnetic field and related phenomena; specific ongoing projects and analyses were reported by the team.