Alignment of the optical polarization with the radio structure of QSOs

Details Alignment of the optical polarization with the radio structure of QSOs Alignment of the optical polarization with the radio structure of QSOs

Jan 1979

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1979apj...227l..55s&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 2 - Letters to the Editor, vol. 227, Jan. 15, 1979, p. L55-L58. Research supported by the Martin Kel

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

67

Linear Polarization, Optical Polarization, Quasars, Radio Astronomy, Emission Spectra, Interstellar Extinction, Light Scattering, Polarimetry, Synchrotron Radiation

Scientific paper

Results of a recent linear-polarization study of 24 bright QSOs are used to compare the optical polarization angles in the QSOs with the orientation of their radio structures. It is found that the optical polarization is aligned almost but not exactly along the radio source in the 20 QSOs for which the position angles of the radio structure and optical polarization are known to better than 15 deg; the probability of such alignment for a random distribution of the difference between the two position angles is shown to be less than 1 in 100,000. It is concluded that the long-term memory of direction established for some radio galaxies is also a feature of QSOs with similar radio morphology. Possible origins of the polarization and its alignment are considered, including intrinsic polarization, the production of optical synchrotron radiation in jets on a larger scale than the central source, and scattering by either a surrounding nonspherical cloud or aligned dust grains.

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