Related papers: Grain Alignment in OMC1 as Deduced from Observed L…
Aligned non-spherical dust particles polarize starlight passing through the dust cloud. They also emit polarized far infrared and sub-mm radiation. Substantial progress in understanding of grain alignment theory makes the interpretation of…
While the problem of grain alignment was posed more than 60 years ago the quantitative model of grain alignment that can account for the observed polarization arising from aligned grains has been formulated only recently. The quantitative…
We study alignment of grains by radiative torques. We found steep rise of radiative torque efficiency as grain size increases. This allows larger grains that are known to exist within molecular clouds to be aligned by the attenuated and…
Paramagnetic alignment of suprathermally rotating grains is discussed in view of recent progress in understanding subtle processes taking place over grain surface. It is shown that in typical ISM conditions, grains with surfaces of…
We calculate the degree of linear polarization of radiation from stars having planets that may not be resolved spatially. We assume single scattering by water and silicate particulates in the planetary atmosphere. The dilution of the…
It is well known that the polarized continuum emission from magnetically aligned dust grains is determined to a large extent by local magnetic field structure. However, the observed significant anticorrelation between polarization fraction…
We study the efficiency of grain alignment by radiative torques (RATs) for an ensemble of irregular grains. The grains are modeled as ensembles of oblate and prolate spheroids, deformed as Gaussian random ellipsoids, and their scattering…
The structure of magnetic fields within protostellar disks may be studied via polarimetry provided that grains are aligned in respect to magnetic field within the disks. We explore alignment of dust grains by radiative torque in T Tauri…
Spectropolarimetry from the near IR to the far UV of light scattered by dust provides a valuable diagnostic of the dust composition, grain size distribution and spatial distribution. To facilitate the use of this diagnostic, we present…
One of the most informative techniques of studying magnetic fields in molecular clouds is based on the use of starlight polarization and polarized emission arising from aligned dust. How reliable the interpretation of the polarization maps…
We explore experimentally possible explanations of the polarization curves of the sunlight reflected by the Barbarian asteroids. Their peculiar polarization curves are characterized by a large inversion angle, around 30 degrees, which could…
Magnetic fields play a crucial role in various astrophysical processes, including star formation, accretion of matter, transport processes (e.g., transport of heat), and cosmic rays. One of the easiest ways to determine the magnetic field…
We extend the work of Mishchenko et al. (2000) regarding the exact results of the polarization effect, using the theory of Amic et al. (1997) to derive a model prediction for the polarization coherent opposition effect at small angles. Our…
Dust grains are important in various astrophysical processes and serve as indicators of interstellar medium structures, density, and mass. Understanding their physical properties and chemical composition is crucial in astrophysics. Dust…
The polarimetry of the light scattered by planetary surfaces is a powerful tool to provide constraints on their microstructure. To improve the interpretation of polarimetric data from icy surfaces, we have developed the POLarimeter for ICE…
We compiled the polarimetric data for a sample of lines of sight with known abundances of Mg, Si, and Fe. We correlated the degree of interstellar polarization $P$ and polarization efficiency (the ratio of $P$ to the colour excess $E(B-V)$…
Polarization of starlight and thermal dust emission due to aligned non-spherical grains helps us to trace magnetic field (B-field) morphology in molecular clouds and to study grain alignment mechanisms. In this work, we study grain…
Interstellar dust grains are often aligned. If the grain alignment direction varies along the line of sight, the thermal emission becomes circularly-polarized. In the diffuse interstellar medium, the circular polarization at far-infrared…
The radiative torque (RAT) mechanism is the most promising way of explaining observed polarization arising from aligned grains. We explore the efficiency of the grain alignment by an anisotropic radiation flow for an extensive ensemble of…
Polarization carries information about the magnetic fields in interstellar clouds. The observations of polarized dust emission are used to study the role of magnetic fields in the evolution of molecular clouds and the initial phases of…