Total magnetic fields in spiral galaxies, as observed through their total
synchrotron emission, are strongest (up to \simeq 30\mu G) in the spiral arms.
The degree of radio polarization is low; the field in the arms must be mostly
turbulent or tangled. Polarized synchrotron emission shows that the resolved
regular fields are generally strongest in the interarm regions (up to \simeq
15\mu G), sometimes forming 'magnetic arms' parallel to the optical arms. The
field structure is spiral in almost every galaxy, even in flocculent and bright
irregular types which lack spiral arms. The observed large-scale patterns of
Faraday rotation in several massive spiral galaxies reveal coherent regular
fields, as predicted by dynamo models. However, in most galaxies observed so
far no simple patterns of Faraday rotation could be found. Either many dynamo
modes are superimposed and cannot be resolved by present-day telescopes, or
most of the apparently regular field is in fact anisotropic random, with
frequent reversals, due to shearing and compressing gas flows. In galaxies with
massive bars, the polarization pattern follows the gas flow. However, around
strong shocks in bars, the compression of the regular field is much lower than
that of the gas; the regular field decouples from the cold gas and is strong
enough to affect the flow of the diffuse warm gas. -- The average strength of
the total magnetic field in the Milky Way is 6\mu G near the sun and increases
to 20-40\mu G in the Galactic center region. The Galactic field is mostly
parallel to the plane, except in the center region. Rotation measure data from
pulsars indicate several field reversals, unlike external galaxies, but some
reversals could be due to distortions of the nearby field.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures. To be published in "Polarisation 2005" (Proc. of
the conference held in Paris, 12-15 Sept. 2005), eds. F. Boulanger and M.A.
Miville-Deschenes, EAS Publications Series; Two small typos corrected, one
reference added and three updated 23/06/200