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| Paper: |
What We've Learned from VSOP Polarization Observations |
| Volume: |
300, Radio Astronomy at the Fringe |
| Page: |
57 |
| Authors: |
Gabuzda, D.C. |
| Abstract: |
Many would have said that it was a bit of a gamble hoping to obtain much useful information from VSOP polarization observations, due to the small size of the orbiting antenna and the ability to record only one circular polarization for baselines to HALCA. In fact, these observations have been among the most interesting and informative of all those obtained by the VSOP project. They have confirmed that the 6 cm core polarization of compact BL Lac objects is dominated by the contribution of emerging jet components, and have provided compelling evidence that the dominant magnetic fields of these sources may be toroidal. In addition, they have enabled us for the first time to directly observe the 90-degree flip in the polarization position angle in the transition from the optically thick to optically thin regimes. Space polarization observations clearly
have a bright future in VLBI. |
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