Physics
Scientific paper
Jul 1991
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1991hst..prop.2524i&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #2524
Physics
Hst Proposal Id #2524
Scientific paper
We request 10.5 hours with the FOS to obtain the first ultraviolet polarimetry of the five bright quasars. They have been specifically selected from a large optical polarimetric survey; their measured U,B,V,R and I colors and polarizations indicate the absence of contaminating starlight,dust or blazar components. These observations will be combined with quasi-simultaneous ground based polarimetry and spectrophotometry, to double the spectral coverage into the critical UV region. These data will be analyzed with multiwavelength fitting techniques. Several emission mechanisms contribute to the optical- ultraviolet continuum in quasars, including a power law of slope ~ 1(S_v proportional to v -1), an optically thick thermal component which peaks in the ultraviolet, and occasionally a highly polarized and variable synchroton power law. The combined UV and optical spectropolarimetry will determine, for the first time, the polarization of these individual components, including that of the strong ultraviolet excess. We will check to see if the observed polarization can be fully explained by a synchrotron component or external scatterers (electrons or dust). If, however, the observed rise of polarization into the blue is attributable to an accretion disk with an electron scattering atmosphere, we will infer its optical thickness, shape and orientation. Thus HST spectropolarimetry provides a unique test of the physical emission mechanisms which produce the energy of quasars.
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