Regional Variations in the Wavelength Dependence of Interstellar Polarization

Abstract

view Abstract Citations (17) References (17) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS Regional Variations in the Wavelength Dependence of Interstellar Polarization Serkowski, K. ; Robertson, John W. Abstract Polarirnetric observations were made in the UB V spectral regions for 38 southern stars with large interstellar polarization. The distribution on the sky of all stars with known ratio pV/pB of the amount of polarization in the yellow spectral region to that in the blue is discussed; for the stars more distant than 500 Pc the correlation between the values of pv/pB vanishes for stars separated by an angular distance of about 12°. The stars for which this ratio is smaller than the median value 1 035 occur in several groups, the most prominent of them around the galactic longitudes 1" = 900 and 270° and around the Double Cluster in Perseus. The largest values of pv/pB occur along the Milky Way at 1" = 2900_3450 and in the relatively nearby associations in Ophiuchus-lJpper Scorpius and in Orion. Stars nearer than 500 pc seem to have values of pV/pB higher than those of more distant stars. The wavelength of maximum interstellar polarization is related to the curvature of the extinction curve between 5500 and 9000 A but does not seem to be directly related to the ratio R of total to selective extinction Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: November 1969 DOI: 10.1086/150208 Bibcode: 1969ApJ...158..441S full text sources ADS | data products SIMBAD (53)