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Dispersion of Interstellar Polarization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2017

Thomas Gehrels*
Affiliation:
University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona

Extract

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The Wavelength Dependence of Polarization as observed in 32 stars, for which the Henry Draper numbers are given, is shown in figure 1. Details of some of these observations are presented in reference 1.

The equipment is now being used with the new 154-cm Catalina reflector of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona. The instrumental polarizations are nearly zero. The data processing and observing techniques have been further improved; the precision is mainly determined by statistics such that the internal probable error in the percentage polarization is ±0.03 percent (±0.0006 magnitude) for a half-hour observation per filter on objects brighter than about 7 magnitudes. The wavelength λ ranges from 0.33 to 0.95 μ covered by seven filters of bandwidth of about 0.05 μ. The wavelength range is being extended to 1.2, 1.6, and 2.2 μ and, with high-altitude ballooning, to 0.28 and 0.22 μ.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer Academic Publishers 1965

References

1. Coyne, G. V.; and Gehrels, T.: Wavelength Dependence of Polarization. VIII. Interstellar Polarization. Astron. J., vol. 71, 1966, p. 355.10.1086/109927CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2. Van De Hulst, H. C.: Light Scattering by Small Particles. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1957.10.1063/1.3060205CrossRefGoogle Scholar