Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009aas...21342207a&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #213, #422.07; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.241
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
During the past five years the quasar 3C 279 has exhibited repeated variations in all four Stokes parameters in the emissions monitored with the University of Michigan 26-meter radio telescope at 4.8, 8.0, and 14.5 GHz. The telescope is equipped with broadband polarimeters, which use rotating quarter wave plates feeding linear transducers together with room temperature transistor. Thermal emission of galactic H II regions are observed several times each day to verify the stability of the instrumental polarization which is less than 0.1 percent. Our circular polarization measurements in 2005 are in quantitative agreement with the results reported by Homan et al this conference obtained using the VLBA, a completely different instrument. The highest degree of circular polarization (Stokes V) observed has been almost 1.0 percent at 4.8 GHz, and Stokes V has been negative most of the time at that frequency. At the two higher frequencies Stokes V has remained positive and has ranged from zero up to approximately half a percent. We believe that the most plausible mechanism for the generation of the circular polarization in this source is the Jones-O'Dell mechanism of mode conversion of linearly polarized emission into circular polarization by randomly oriented regions in an emitting region containing a turbulent magnetic field. The continuity of the circular polarization suggests a long term coherence in the magnetic field structures in the emitting region. The linear and circular polarization results are used to set limits on the particle energy distribution. This work was supported by NSF under grant AST-0607523 and funds from the University of Michigan.
Aller Hugh D.
Aller Margo F.
Hughes Philip A.
No associations
LandOfFree
Circular Polarization Variability of the Quasar 3C 279 at Centimeter Wavelengths 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 Circular Polarization Variability of the Quasar 3C 279 at Centimeter Wavelengths, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Circular Polarization Variability of the Quasar 3C 279 at Centimeter Wavelengths will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1702626