Optical Polarimetry of the Jets of Nearby Radio Galaxies: I. The Data

Simple item page
dc.creatorPerlman, Eric S.
dc.creatorPadgett, C. A.
dc.creatorGeorganopoulos, Markos
dc.creatorSparks, William B.
dc.creatorBiretta, John A.
dc.creatorO'Dea, Christopher P.
dc.creatorBaum, Stefi A.
dc.creatorBirkinshaw, Mark
dc.creatorWorrall, D. M.
dc.creatorDulwich, Fred
dc.creatorJester, Sebastian
dc.creatorMartel, Andre
dc.creatorCapetti, Alessandro
dc.creatorLeahy, J. Patrick
dc.date2006-06-06
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T10:39:13Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T10:39:13Z
dc.descriptionWe present an overview of new HST imaging polarimetry of six nearby radio galaxies with optical jets. These observations triple the number of extragalactic jets with subarcsecond-resolution optical polarimetry. We discuss the polarization characteristics and optical morphology of each jet. We find evidence of high optical polarization, averaging 20%, but reaching upwards of $\sim 50%$ in some objects, confirming that the optical emission is synchrotron, and that the components of the magnetic fields perpendicular to the line of sight are well ordered. We find a wide range of polarization morphologies, with each jet having a somewhat different relationship between total intensity and polarized flux and the polarization position angle. We find two trends in all of these jets. First, jet ``edges'' are very often associated with high fractional optical polarizations, as also found in earlier radio observations of these and other radio jets. In these regions, the magnetic field vectors appear to track the jet direction, even at bends, where we see particularly high fractional polarizations. This indicates a strong link between the local magnetic field and jet dynamics. Second, optical flux maximum regions are usually well separated from maxima in fractional polarization and often are associated with polarization minima. This trend is not found in radio data and was found in our optical polarimetry of M87 with HST. However, unlike in M87, we do not find a general trend for near-90$^\circ$ rotations in the optical polarization vectors near flux maxima. We discuss possibilities for interpreting these trends, as well as implications for jet dynamics, magnetic field structure and particle acceleration.
dc.description32 pages, 8 figures, 1 reduced. ApJ, in press
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0606119
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0606119
dc.identifierAstrophys.J.651:735-748,2006
dc.identifierdoi:10.1086/506587
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/180949
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titleOptical Polarimetry of the Jets of Nearby Radio Galaxies: I. The Data
dc.typetext

Files

Collections

arXiv