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Using the Global Magneto-Ionic Medium Survey (GMIMS) Low-Band South (LBS) southern sky polarization survey, covering 300 to 480 MHz at 81 arcmin resolution, we reveal the brightest region in the Southern polarized sky at these frequencies. The region, G150-50, covers nearly 20deg$^2$, near (l,b)~(150 deg,-50 deg). Using GMIMS-LBS and complementary data at higher frequencies (~0.6--30 GHz), we apply Faraday tomography and Stokes QU-fitting techniques. We find that the magnetic field associated with G150-50 is both coherent and primarily in the plane of the sky, and indications that the region is associated with Radio Loop II. The Faraday depth spectra across G150-50 are broad and contain a large-scale spatial gradient. We model the magnetic field in the region as an expanding shell, and we can reproduce both the observed Faraday rotation and the synchrotron emission in the GMIMS-LBS band. Using QU-fitting, we find that the Faraday spectra are produced by several Faraday dispersive sources along the line-of-sight. Alternatively, polarization horizon effects that we cannot model are adding complexity to the high-frequency polarized spectra. The magnetic field structure of Loop II dominates a large fraction of the sky, and studies of the large-scale polarized sky will need to account for this object. Studies of G150-50 with high angular resolution could mitigate polarization horizon effects, and clarify the nature of G150-50., 25 pages, 14 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Faraday tomography of a field centred on the extragalactic point source 3C 196 with the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) revealed an intertwined structure of diffuse polarised emission with straight depolarisation canals and tracers of the magnetized and multi-phase interstellar medium (ISM), such as dust and line emission from atomic hydrogen (HI). This study aims at extending the multi-tracer analysis of LOFAR data to three additional fields in the surroundings of the 3C 196 field. For the first time, we study the three-dimensional structure of the LOFAR emission by determining the distance to the depolarisation canals. We use the Rolling Hough Transform to compare the orientation of the depolarisation canals with that of the filamentary structure seen in HI and, based on starlight and dust polarisation data, with that of the plane-of-the-sky magnetic field. Stellar parallaxes from $Gaia$ complement the starlight polarisation with the corresponding distances. Faraday tomography of the three fields shows a rich network of diffuse polarised emission at Faraday depths between $-10~{\rm rad~m^{-2}}$ and $+15~{\rm rad~m^{-2}}$. A complex system of straight depolarisation canals resembles that of the 3C 196 field. The depolarisation canals align both with the HI filaments and with the magnetic field probed by dust. The observed alignment suggests that an ordered magnetic field organises the multiphase ISM over a large area ($\sim$20$^{\circ}$). In one field, two groups of stars at distances below and above 200 pc, respectively, show distinct magnetic-field orientations. These are both comparable with the orientations of the depolarisation canals in the same field. We conclude that the depolarisation canals likely trace the same change of the magnetic field as probed by the stars, which corresponds to the edge of the Local Bubble., Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

The technique of Faraday tomography is a key tool for the study of magnetised plasmas in the new era of broadband radio polarisation observations. In particular, observations at metre-wavelengths provide significantly better Faraday depth accuracies compared to traditional cm-wavelength observations. However, the effect of Faraday depolarisation makes the polarised signal very challenging to detect at metre wavelengths (MHz frequencies). In this work, Faraday tomography is used to characterise the Faraday rotation properties of polarised sources found in data from the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey (LoTSS). Of the 76 extragalactic polarised sources analysed here, we find that all host a radio-loud AGN. The majority of the sources (∼64%) are large FRII radio galaxies with a median projected linear size of 710 kpc and median radio luminosity at 144 MHz of 4 × 10^26 W/Hz. In several cases, both hotspots are detected in polarisation at an angular resolution of ∼20". One such case allowed a study of intergalactic magnetic fields on scales of 3.4 Mpc. Other detected source types include an FRI radio galaxy and at least 8 blazars. Most sources display simple Faraday spectra, however, we highlight one blazar that displays a complex Faraday spectrum, with two close peaks in the Faraday dispersion function.

Both observations and modelling of magnetic fields in the diffuse interstellar gas of spiral galaxies are well developed but the theory has been confronted with observations for only a handful of individual galaxies. There is now sufficient data to consider statistical properties of galactic magnetic fields. We have collected data from the literature on the magnetic fields and interstellar media (ISM) of 20 spiral galaxies, and tested for various physically motivated correlations between magnetic field and ISM parameters. Clear correlations emerge between the total magnetic field strength and molecular gas density as well as the star formation rate. The magnetic pitch angle exhibits correlations with the total gas density, the star formation rate and the strength of the axisymmetric component of the mean magnetic field. The total and mean magnetic field strengths exhibit noticeable degree of correlation, suggesting a universal behaviour of the degree of order in galactic magnetic fields. We also compare the predictions of galactic dynamo theory to observed magnetic field parameters and identify directions in which theory and observations might be usefully developed., Accepted for publication in ApJ (November 5, 2014); 18 pages, 10 figures (Version 2: Replaced 'regular' with 'ordered' on page 2; Replaced 'regular' with 'large-scale' on page 14.)