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Polarization in astronomy

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176: 22: 227:. In some cases it can be difficult to determine how much of the Faraday rotation is in the external source and how much is local to our own galaxy, but in many cases it is possible to find another distant source nearby in the sky; thus by comparing the candidate source and the reference source, the results can be untangled. 143:
has been measured. Circular polarization is mainly due to transmission and absorption effects in strongly magnetic regions of the Sun's surface. Another mechanism that gives rise to circular polarization is the so-called "alignment-to-orientation mechanism". Continuum light is linearly polarized at
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An animation showing how a planet's atmosphere polarises light from its parent star. Comparing the starlight with the light reflected from the planet gives information about the planet's atmosphere.
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telescope located at the South Pole helped in the detection of B-mode polarization in the CMB. The polarization modes of the CMB may provide more information about the influence of
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different locations across the face of the Sun (limb polarization) though taken as a whole, this polarization cancels. Linear polarization in spectral lines is usually created by
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of photons on atoms and ions which can themselves be polarized by this interaction. The linearly polarized spectrum of the Sun is often called the
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Boyle, Latham A.; Steinhardt, PJ; Turok, N (2006). "Inflationary predictions for scalar and tensor fluctuations reconsidered".
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developed theories allowing the use of polarization data to trace interstellar magnetic fields. Though the integrated
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Apart from providing information on sources of radiation and scattering, polarization also probes the interstellar
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can impose polarization on starlight over long distances. Net polarization at the source can occur if the
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radio radiation (which may, it is speculated, sometimes be coherent) also show polarization.
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Vlemmings, W. H. T. (Mar 2007). "A review of maser polarization and magnetic fields".
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It has been suggested that astronomical sources of polarised light caused the
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An artist's impression of how a filter allows only polarised light through
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Clark, S. (1999). "Polarised starlight and the handedness of Life".
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is not usually appreciably polarized at source, scattering by
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Tegmark, Max (2005). "What does inflation really predict?".
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Hannu Karttunen; Pekka Kröger; Heikki Oja (27 June 2007).
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Discovery by Hiltner and Hall, analysis by Greenstein
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Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union
223:in our galaxy as well as in radio galaxies via 193:Polarization is also present in radiation from 159:can be modified in weak magnetic fields by the 507:Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics 243:. CMB exhibits 2 components of polarization: 8: 259:on the development of the early universe. 247:(divergence-free like magnetic field) and 518: 457: 379: 345:. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. 266:found in biological molecules on Earth. 89:and John S. Hall in 1949. Subsequently, 46:of all important aspects of the article. 333: 42:Please consider expanding the lead to 7: 341:Egidio Landi Degl'Innocenti (2004). 14: 293: 273: 197:astronomical sources due to the 20: 34:may be too short to adequately 343:Polarization in Spectral Lines 66:is an important phenomenon in 44:provide an accessible overview 1: 537:10.1088/1475-7516/2005/04/001 476:10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.111301 113:itself is asymmetric, due to 237:cosmic microwave background 231:Cosmic microwave background 201:(e.g. hydroxyl or methanol 641: 322:Chandrasekhar polarization 82:was first observed by the 398:10.1017/s1743921307012549 208:The large radio lobes in 235:The polarization of the 179:The polarization in the 121:(peculiar A type stars). 446:Physical Review Letters 165:stellar magnetic fields 190: 620:Astrophysics concepts 421:Fundamental Astronomy 178: 153:second solar spectrum 625:Polarization (waves) 78:The polarization of 572:1999AmSci..87..336C 529:2005JCAP...04..001T 468:2006PhRvL..96k1301B 390:2007IAUS..242...37V 257:gravitational waves 157:Atomic polarization 137:linear polarization 95:Leverett Davis, Jr. 580:10.1511/1999.4.336 560:American Scientist 191: 430:978-3-540-34143-7 303: 283: 115:limb polarization 107:interstellar dust 99:thermal radiation 61: 60: 632: 592: 591: 555: 549: 548: 522: 520:astro-ph/0410281 502: 496: 495: 461: 459:astro-ph/0507455 441: 435: 434: 416: 410: 409: 383: 363: 357: 356: 338: 305: 304: 285: 284: 225:Faraday rotation 91:Jesse Greenstein 56: 53: 47: 24: 16: 640: 639: 635: 634: 633: 631: 630: 629: 610: 609: 601: 596: 595: 557: 556: 552: 504: 503: 499: 443: 442: 438: 431: 418: 417: 413: 374:(S242): 37–46. 365: 364: 360: 353: 340: 339: 335: 330: 318: 313: 312: 311: 310: 309: 306: 294: 290: 289: 286: 274: 233: 210:active galaxies 173: 129: 87:William Hiltner 76: 57: 51: 48: 41: 29:This article's 25: 12: 11: 5: 638: 636: 628: 627: 622: 612: 611: 608: 607: 600: 599:External links 597: 594: 593: 550: 497: 452:(11): 111301. 436: 429: 411: 358: 351: 332: 331: 329: 326: 325: 324: 317: 314: 307: 292: 291: 287: 272: 271: 270: 269: 268: 241:early universe 232: 229: 221:magnetic field 186:measured with 172: 169: 128: 125: 75: 72: 59: 58: 38:the key points 28: 26: 19: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 637: 626: 623: 621: 618: 617: 615: 606: 603: 602: 598: 589: 585: 581: 577: 573: 569: 566:(4): 336–43. 565: 561: 554: 551: 546: 542: 538: 534: 530: 526: 521: 516: 512: 508: 501: 498: 493: 489: 485: 481: 477: 473: 469: 465: 460: 455: 451: 447: 440: 437: 432: 426: 422: 415: 412: 407: 403: 399: 395: 391: 387: 382: 377: 373: 369: 362: 359: 354: 352:1-4020-2414-2 348: 344: 337: 334: 327: 323: 320: 319: 315: 267: 265: 260: 258: 254: 250: 246: 242: 238: 230: 228: 226: 222: 217: 215: 211: 206: 204: 200: 199:Zeeman effect 196: 189: 185: 182: 177: 171:Other sources 170: 168: 166: 162: 158: 154: 150: 147: 142: 138: 134: 126: 124: 123: 120: 116: 112: 108: 104: 100: 96: 92: 88: 85: 81: 73: 71: 69: 65: 55: 52:November 2021 45: 39: 37: 32: 27: 23: 18: 17: 563: 559: 553: 510: 506: 500: 449: 445: 439: 423:. Springer. 420: 414: 371: 367: 361: 342: 336: 261: 234: 218: 207: 192: 161:Hanle effect 130: 77: 64:Polarization 62: 49: 33: 31:lead section 146:anisotropic 111:photosphere 84:astronomers 614:Categories 513:(4): 001. 328:References 149:scattering 588:221585816 381:0705.0885 264:chirality 80:starlight 68:astronomy 36:summarize 545:17250080 492:10424288 484:16605810 316:See also 195:coherent 141:sunlight 133:circular 119:Ap stars 568:Bibcode 525:Bibcode 464:Bibcode 406:5704623 386:Bibcode 586:  543:  490:  482:  427:  404:  349:  253:BICEP2 249:E-mode 245:B-mode 214:pulsar 203:masers 184:3C 286 181:quasar 584:S2CID 541:S2CID 515:arXiv 488:S2CID 454:arXiv 402:S2CID 376:arXiv 131:Both 103:stars 74:Stars 511:0504 480:PMID 425:ISBN 347:ISBN 212:and 188:ALMA 135:and 93:and 576:doi 533:doi 472:doi 394:doi 205:). 139:of 127:Sun 101:of 616:: 582:. 574:. 564:97 562:. 539:. 531:. 523:. 509:. 486:. 478:. 470:. 462:. 450:96 448:. 400:. 392:. 384:. 370:. 167:. 155:. 70:. 590:. 578:: 570:: 547:. 535:: 527:: 517:: 494:. 474:: 466:: 456:: 433:. 408:. 396:: 388:: 378:: 372:3 355:. 54:) 50:( 40:.

Index


lead section
summarize
provide an accessible overview
Polarization
astronomy
starlight
astronomers
William Hiltner
Jesse Greenstein
Leverett Davis, Jr.
thermal radiation
stars
interstellar dust
photosphere
limb polarization
Ap stars

circular
linear polarization
sunlight
anisotropic
scattering
second solar spectrum
Atomic polarization
Hanle effect
stellar magnetic fields

quasar
3C 286

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