Related papers: Dust Polarization From Starlight Data
We present a model for the diffuse interstellar dust that explains the observed wavelength-dependence of extinction, emission, linear and circular polarisation of light. The model is set-up with a small number of parameters. It consists of…
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…
We present a comprehensive polarimetric study of 26 nearby molecular clouds in four far-infrared bands (53 $\mu$m to 214 $\mu$m) using 52 archival SOFIA/HAWC+ datasets. Far-infrared dust polarization observations probe the plane-of-sky…
We present a study of synthetic observations of polarized dust emission at 353 GHz as seen by an observer within a cavity in the interstellar medium (ISM). The cavity is selected from a magnetohydrodynamic simulation of the local ISM with…
Dust in the diffuse interstellar medium remains incompletely understood with regard to the structure, composition, size distribution, and alignment properties of the grains. Joint observations of reddening, starlight polarisation spectra,…
Magnetic fields are fundamental to the evolution of galaxies, playing a key role in the astrophysics of the interstellar medium and star formation. Large-scale ordered magnetic fields have been mapped in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies,…
Starlight that becomes linearly polarized by magnetically aligned dust grains provides a viable diagnostic of the interstellar magnetic field (ISMF). A survey is underway to map the local ISMF using data collected at eight observatories in…
The characterization of the dust polarization foreground to the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) is a necessary step towards the detection of the B-mode signal associated with primordial gravitational waves. We present a method to simulate…
We present 353 GHz full-sky maps of the polarization fraction $p$, angle $\psi$, and dispersion of angles $S$ of Galactic dust thermal emission produced from the 2018 release of Planck data. We confirm that the mean and maximum of $p$…
The availability of large datasets with stellar distance and polarization information will enable a tomographic reconstruction of the (plane-of-the-sky-projected) interstellar magnetic field in the near future. We demonstrate the…
We have investigated the grain alignment and dust properties towards the direction of the cluster NGC 2345 using the multi-band optical polarimetric observations. For the majority of the stars, the observed polarization is found to be due…
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 $E(B-V)$…
Far-infrared polarized emission by means of magnetically aligned dust grains is an excellent tracer of the magnetic fields (B-fields) in the cold phase of the galactic outflows in starburst galaxies. We present a comprehensive study of the…
The observations of fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background provide information about primordial inhomogeneities in the universe. However, the B-mode polarization of the inflationary gravitational wave is contaminated by the…
The dielectric function of interstellar dust material is modeled using observations of extinction and polarization in the infrared, together with estimates for the mass of interstellar dust. The "astrodust" material is assumed to be a mix…
We made R-band polarization measurements of 234 stars towards the direction of MBM 33-39 cloud complex. The distance of MBM 33-39 complex was determined as $120\pm10$ pc using polarization results and near-infrared photometry from the 2MASS…
The quest for a B-mode imprint from primordial gravity waves on the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) requires the characterization of foreground polarization from Galactic dust. We present a statistical study of the…
The Planck survey has quantified polarized Galactic foregrounds and established that they are a main limiting factor in the quest for the cosmic microwave background (CMB) B-mode signal induced by primordial gravitational waves during…
It has not been shown so far whether the diffuse Galactic polarized emission at frequencies relevant for cosmic microwave background (CMB) studies originates from nearby or more distant regions of our Galaxy. This questions previous…
Continuum polarization over the UV-to-microwave range is due to dichroic extinction (or emission) by asymmetric, aligned dust grains. Because of both grain alignment and scattering physics, the wavelength dependence of the polarization,…