The Role of Magnetic Fields on Astrophysical Jets

Abstract

Highly collimated supersonic jets and less collimated outflows are observed to emerge from a wide variety of astrophysical objects. They are seen in young stellar objects (YSOs), proto-planetary nebulae, compact objects (such as galactic black holes or microquasars, and X-ray binary stars), and in the nuclei of active galaxies (AGNs). Despite their different physical scales (in size, velocity, and amount of energy transported), they have strong morphological similarities. What is the universal mechanism that can explain their origin? In this lecture, I briefly review the role that magnetic fields seem to play on the formation, structure, and propagation of these jets.