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IR Imaging Polarimetry and Modeling of Galaxies
| At last it appears as though NSFCAM on the IRTF can indeed do a decent job
of imaging polarimetry. The top panel at right is NGC 4565 at H (1.65 microns).
Below that is the model developed by Kenny Wood at CFA. Note that the observed
polarization in the dust lane is very strongly aligned with the plane of the
galaxy. The model predicts this behavior but also predicts large polarization
due to scattering outside of the disk. This is not seen at the predicted level
in the data.
Jones,
1997, AJ, 114, 1393 |
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| For those of you who like a bit of color in your life, this is a flase
color image of NGC 891 made from H and K (2.2 micors) images. The polarization
is weaker than in NGC 4565. This galaxy has considerable activity in the disk
and shows vertical structure to the magnetic field above and below the plane of
the disk. At H, the polarization vectors in the disk are more consistent with a
normal toroidal geometry. However, the weaker polarization may be indicative of
a combination of vertical and toroidal fields in the disk causing a 'crossed
polaroid' effect. Alternatively the field is much more stirred up than in NGC
4565, but on very short spatial scales. |
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This page written by Terry Jay Jones.
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