Polarimetry of Stars and Planetary Systems

Summarising the striking advances of the last two decades, this reliable introduction to modern astronomical polarimetry provides a comprehensive review of state-of-the-art techniques, models and research methods. Focusing on optical and near-infrared wavelengths, each detailed, up-to-date chapter addresses a different facet of recent innovations, including new instrumentation, techniques and theories; new methods based on laboratory studies, enabling the modelling of polarimetric characteristics for a wide variety of astronomical objects; emerging fields of polarimetric exploration, including proto-planetary and debris discs, icy satellites, transneptunian objects, exoplanets, and the search for extraterrestrial life; and unique results produced by space telescopes, and polarimeters aboard exploratory spacecraft. With contributions from an international team of accomplished researchers, this is an ideal resource for astronomers and researchers working in astrophysics, earth sciences, and remote sensing keen to learn more about this valuable diagnostic tool. The book is dedicated to the memory of renowned polarimetrist Tom Gehrels.

Part I. Introduction: 1. Preface Ludmilla Kolokolova, James Hough and Anny-Chantal Levasseur-Regourd; 2. The life of Tom Gehrels Neil Gehrels, George Gehrels, Jo-Ann Gehrels and Aleida Gehrels; Part II. Theory, Instrumentation, Laboratory Studies: 3. Measurement and modelling of electromagnetic scattering by particles and particle groups Michael I. Mishchenko; 4. Instrumentation Christoph U. Keller, Frans Snik, David M. Harrington and Chris Packham; 5. Laboratory studies Anny-Chantal Levasseur-Regourd, Jean-Baptiste Renard, Yuriy Shkuratov and Edith Hadamcik; 6. Grain alignment: role of radiative torques and paramagnetic relaxation Alexander Lazarian, B.-G. Andersson and Thiem Hoang; 7. Multiple scattering of light in particulate planetary media Karri Muinonen, Antti Penttilä and Gorden Videen; 8. Experimental scattering matrices of clouds of randomly oriented particles Olga Muñoz and Joop W. Hovenier; Part III. Stars and their Environment: 9. Interstellar polarization Terry Jay Jones and Douglas C. B. Whittet; 10. Young stellar objects and their environment Motohide Tamura and Jungmi Kwon; 11. T Tauri and Herbig Ae/Be stars Pierre Bastien; 12. Magnetic fields in high-mass star forming regions Antonio Chrysostomou, Martin Houde and Brenda C. Matthews; 13. Evolved stars Tim Gledhill; 14. Stellar magnetic fields Stefano Bagnulo and John D. Landstreet; 15. Imaging of protoplanetary and debris disks Marshall D. Perrin, Dean C. Hines, John P. Wisniewski and Glenn Schneider; Part IV. Solar System: 16. The Sun Jan O. Stenflo; 17. Terrestrial planets Vadim Kaydash, Yuriy Shkuratov, Michael Wolff and Gorden Videen; 18. The Moon Yuriy Shkuratov, Nikolay Opanasenko, Viktor Korokhin and Gorden Videen; 19. Gas giant planets, Saturn's rings, and Titan Robert West, Padma Yanamandra-Fisher and Viktor Korokhin; 20. Icy moons of the outer planets Vera Rosenbush, Nikolai Kiselev and Viktor Afanasiev; 21. Asteroids Alberto Cellino, Ricardo Gil-Hutton and Irina Belskaya; 22. Comets Nikolai Kiselev, Vera Rosenbush, Anny Chantal Levasseur-Regourd and Ludmilla Kolokolova; 23. Transneptunian objects and Centaurs Irina Belskaya and Stefano Bagnulo; 24. Interplanetary dust Jérémie Lasue, Anny-Chantal Levasseur-Regourd and Alexander Lazarian; Part V. Exoplanets and Exobiology: 25. Exoplanets Sloane J. Wiktorowicz and Daphne M. Stam; 26. Astrobiology William Sparks, James Hough and Ludmilla Kolokolova; Appendix A. Polarimetric definitions for astronomy.

Ludmilla Kolokolova is a Senior Research Scientist at the University of Maryland, focusing on polarimetric remote sensing of comets, asteroids and cosmic dust and polarimetric techniques in astrobiology.
James Hough is a Research Professor at the University of Hertfordshire. He led the astronomy research programme for over thirty years with polarimetry as his main research interest. He has been awarded the Herschel Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (2010).
Anny-Chantal Levasseur-Regourd is a Professor at the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris, where her research activities focus on the physics of small bodies in the Solar System. She has been Principal Investigator for light scattering experiments on rockets, satellites and space probes, and an Officer of the French Légion d'Honneur since 2013.