The small-scale polarization of the Crab Nebula

Details The small-scale polarization of the Crab Nebula The small-scale polarization of the Crab Nebula

Jan 1979

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1979apj...227..106s&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 1, vol. 227, Jan. 1, 1979, p. 106-113.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

38

Astronomical Photometry, Crab Nebula, Interstellar Magnetic Fields, Polarization (Waves), Compton Effect, Electrophotometry, Magnetic Field Configurations, Pulsars, Synchrotron Radiation, Thermal Plasmas

Scientific paper

Photoelectric maps of optical polarization with resolution near the seeing limit are presented for a substantial portion of the Crab Nebula. The areas studied are the very strongly polarized eastern 'bay' and the central region containing the pulsar and wisps. The results are compared with the previous 6-arcsec-resolution map of Woltjer (1957) and are discussed in the context of current theories on the nebula and pulsar. Evidence is found for an apparently circular magnetic field about the pulsar and a relatively simple field geometry in the outer nebula; it is noted that this evidence can be taken to support hypotheses which ascribe the strength of the nebular field to amplification by 'winding up' of the pulsar field lines. It is suggested that the pulsar's spin axis apparently is not closely aligned with either the line of sight from earth or the plane of the sky. The results also indicate that the general nebular field consists of a few large superposed features and that, outside of the wisp region, appreciable field structure extends down to scales of only about 20 arcsec.

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