Dr Anna Scaife

These images were taken with the LOFAR telescope and show the magnetic shells left behind by an ancient supernova remnant (the relic of an exploded star) as it expanded outwards over several decades from its central explosion. LOFAR is the biggest radio telescope in the world with stations spread across Europe, from the UK to Poland.

Images like this one which directly probe magnetic structure in a dimension called `Faraday depth' are only becoming possible thanks to the fantastic frequency coverage and resolution of LOFAR which measures radio emission at wavelengths of up to 10 metres. Image credit: Marco Iacobelli, Emanuela Orru, Roberto Pizzo & Marijke Haverkorn for the LOFAR Magnetism Key Science Project (MKSP).