Galactic dynamos

There is a broad agreement between the predictions of galactic dynamo theory and observations; although there are still some unresolved difficulties, the theory appears to be robust. Now attention is turning from generic models to studies of particular features of the large-scale magnetic fields, and also to models for specific galaxies. The effects of noncircular flows, for example driven by the interaction of spiral arms and galactic bars with the dynamo, are of current interest.