Polarized Rings of Plantary Nebula NGC 6543 - The Cat's Eye
Claire Bendersky
ABSTRACT:
Rings surrounding the core of planetary nebulae are a recent and unexpected discovery.
Spectrapolarimetry was taken by ISIS, a double-armed, medium resolution spectrograph. The single to noise ratio
was too low in all wavelengths, except in the [O III] (5007A) due to the nature of forbidden line emission.
By plotting the angle and the degree of polarization vectors polarization from a central source becomes apparent,
especially compared to the central source and halo which do not display polarization. Polarization in
rings the imply they contain dust that scatters light from a central source. They are likely to be AGB remnants
because their simple shape does not reflect the complex symmetry of the core.
Home
---Planetary Nebula
---Polarization
---ISIS
---Forbidden lines
---Personal
Questions? Comments?
cnbender@mtholyoke.edu or cdersky@gmail.com