The appearance of polarization in radiation from hot stars due to the faraday rotation effect as a possible method of determining stellar magnetic fields |
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Authors: | Yu. N. Gnedin N. A. Silant'ev |
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Affiliation: | (1) A. F. Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of USSR, Leningrad, USSR;(2) Main Astronomical Observatory of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Pulkova, 196140 Leningrad, USSR |
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Abstract: | The effect of Faraday rotation is shown to lead to the appearance of linear polarization of stellar radiation scattered in an optically-thin circumstellar electron-magnetized shell, even in the case when the shell is spherical. The spectral dependence of the polarization degree is evaluated for scattering in (i) a spherically-symmetric magnetized shell with a power-law radial dependence of the electron density, and (ii) a non-spherical ellipsoidal uniform envelope. The position of maximum in the polarization spectrum permits us to determine the magnetic field magnitude on a star surface. If the rotational and magnetic axes do not coincide, the periodic variability of the polarization will be observed with the period of stellar rotation. Some Be-stars, such as Cas, 48 Lib, EW Lac, Aqr, HD 45677, X Per, are proposed as candidates to be investigated for magnetic fields, as well as some stars of the T Tau-type. This method may be also applied to supernovae shells. |
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