Detection of polarized Fermi-bubble synchrotron and dust emission

Abstract

The elusive polarized microwave signal from the Fermi bubbles is disentangled from the more extended polarized lobes, which similarly emanate from the Galactic plane but stretch farther west of the bubbles. The projected ∼20% synchrotron polarization reveals magnetic fields preferentially parallel to the bubble edges, as expected downstream of a strong shock. The projected ∼20% polarization of thermal dust emission is similarly oriented, constraining grain alignment in an extreme environment. We argue that the larger lobes arise from an older Galactic-center, likely supermassive black-hole, outburst.