Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 April 2016
Data obtained through microwave analog measurements are used to compare optical polarization characteristics of silicate particles ranging in shape from spheroids and cylinders to chains of spheres. It is confirmed that the dependence of the degree of polarization on scattering angle is a powerful indicator of particle shape. The reversal and steep gradient in the degree of polarization found by Weinberg and Beeson (1976a,b) in the dust tail of comet Ikeya-Seki (1965 VIII) is suggestive of laboratory measurements corresponding to 1.6 μm long, 0.4 μm in diameter silicate cylinders.