Orientation of the galactic magnetic field in the vicinity of the solar system

It is found from analysis of the position angles of the plane of polarization of about 3000 stars (¦b¦ 5° andP 0.5%) that the angle between the magnetic field and the equatorial plane of the galaxy is approximately 0–5°. The distance within which the local magnetic fields of the galaxy have a greater effect on the position angles of the plane of polarization than the galactic magnetic field is estimated to be about 500 pc. The effect of the galactic magnetic field becomes dominant for distancesr 1000 pc.Translated fromAstrofizika, Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 553–559, November, 1996.