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| Paper: |
Light Echo Polarization for Geometric Distance Measurement |
| Volume: |
449, Astronomical Polarimetry 2008: Science from Small to Large Telescopes |
| Page: |
242 |
| Authors: |
Sparks, W. B.; Bond, H. |
| Abstract: |
Sparks (1994) showed that the polarization of a light echo can be used
to measure its distance geometrically. We applied this concept to the
famous light echo of V838 Mon and derived a distance of 6.1 kpc. This
distance has been independently verified using main sequence fitting for
an associated young star cluster. The Cepheid variable star RS Pup
lies within a dust cloud and light echoes continuously propagate outward
from the star. An attempt to measure its distance geometrically by
Kervella et al. (2008) was invalid since they assumed scatterers
are in the plane of the sky. Polarization observations, however, should
allow us to identify features that are close to the plane of the
sky and hence we should be able to derive a geometric distance. |
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