Polarimetric observations of comet P/Halley on 19 March 1986

Abstract

Optical linear polarization data are presented for the coma and tail region of comet P/Halley observed on 19 March 1986. Polarization in the continuum has been found to increase with wavelength while the position angle remains almost constant. The nature of the wavelength dependence of polarization seems to be different for the coma and the tail region, signifying a size difference of the particles in the two regions. The wavelength dependence of polarization shows a decrease in polarization across different emission bands (CN, C3, CO+, C2 and H2O+).