Interstellar Polarization and the Position Angle Orientations of Seyfert 1 Galaxies

Details Interstellar Polarization and the Position Angle Orientations of Seyfert 1 Galaxies Interstellar Polarization and the Position Angle Orientations of Seyfert 1 Galaxies

2005-05-27

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0505568v2

Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc. 363 (2005) 1241-1246

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

15 pages, 3 figures, accepted by MNRAS; made small corrections to the derived ISP of Mrk 871 and other minor revisions in resp

Scientific paper

10.1111/j.1365-2966.2005.09513.x

We comment on recent spectropolarimetric studies that compare the observed polarization position angles (PAs) of Seyfert 1 galaxies near H alpha with the observed orientations of their radio source axes on the sky. For a Seyfert galaxy in which scattering occurs mainly in an equatorial scattering region, one expects the polarization PA to be parallel to the radio axis, while in a case in which light scatters predominantly in the polar regions, the H alpha polarization PA should be perpendicular to the radio axis. In practice, these correlations are difficult to establish because a Galactic interstellar polarization contribution can introduce a significant uncertainty into the polarization PA determination, even when the magnitude of interstellar polarization is small. We show how such uncertainties may affect the analysis of PA alignments and present spectropolarimetric observations of a probe star along the line of sight to the Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 871 that allow us to assess the intrinsic H alpha polarization and PA of Mrk 871. These results suggest that spectropolarimetric observations of such probe stars should form an integral part of future Seyfert galaxy polarization studies.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Interstellar Polarization and the Position Angle Orientations of Seyfert 1 Galaxies does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Interstellar Polarization and the Position Angle Orientations of Seyfert 1 Galaxies, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Interstellar Polarization and the Position Angle Orientations of Seyfert 1 Galaxies will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-80399