Year: 1973
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: A review of observational data on interstellar polarization is given. The degree of fluctuation in the direction of the galactic magnetic field is discussed. An empirical formula is given which fits all the observations of the wavelength dependence of interstellar polarization when they are normalized with the wavelength λ max of maximum polarization. Well-defined regions on the sky with values of λ max deviating from an average are found. Values of λ max are correlated with the ratio of total to selective interstellar extinction. A unified wavelength dependence of interstellar extinction is obtained by normalizing the observations with the wavelength λ max of maximum interstellar polarization.
Author: K. Serkowski
Institution: University of Arizona
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4206174393