2021/11/08 by L. Rudnick, Rudnick, Lawrence, Debora M. Katz +3
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) #FOS: Physical sciences #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM) #Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology #Scientific Research and Discoveries
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2111.04843
openalex publication_date 2021/11/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We present a simple but powerful technique for the analysis of polarized emission from radio galaxies and other objects. It is based on the fact that images of Stokes parameters often contain considerably more information than is available in polarized intensity and angle maps. In general, however, the orientation of the Stokes parameters will not be matched to the position angles of structures in the source. Polarization tomography, the technique presented in this paper, consists of making a series of single linear Stokes parameter images, S(ρ), where each image is rotated by an angle ρ from the initial orientation of Q and U. Examination of these images, in a series of still frames or a movie, reveals often hidden patterns of polarization angles, as well as structures that were obscured by the presence of overlapping polarized emission. We provide both cartoon examples and a quick look at the complex polarized structure in Cygnus A.