Bibcode
Perlman, E.; Jones, T. J.; Alonso-Herrero, A.; Ramos-Almeida, C.; Mason, R. E.; Levenson, N. A.; Elitzur, M.; Young, S.; Packham, C.; Lopez-Rodriguez, E.
Referencia bibliográfica
Earth, Planets and Space, Volume 65, Issue 10, p. 1117-1122.
Fecha de publicación:
10
2013
Número de citas
1
Número de citas referidas
1
Descripción
We present J, H and Kn imaging polarimetry of IC5063. NIR
polarimetry observations may advance our understanding of the mechanisms
of polarisation and hence magnetic field strength in the torus of AGN.
In these proceedings we summarize the polarisation results of the
central 1.2'' aperture (˜263 pc) of IC5063. We present a simple
polarising model to account for various mechanisms of polarisation in
the central regions of IC5063. The model is consistent with dichroic
absorption from diffuse stellar emission through dust in the nuclear
bulge and electron scattering as dominant mechanisms of polarisation at
J and H. Dichroic absorption from aligned dust grains within the torus
of IC5063 is dominant at Kn with a visual extinction of
Av = 48±2 mag by the torus. Through the use of various
components to the central engine of IC5063, we estimated the intrinsic
polarisation from dichroic absorption to be
PdicKn = 12.5 ± 2.7%. The dust
grain alignment mechanism is assumed to be produced by paramagnetic
relaxation. In this case, the intrinsic polarisation,
PdicKn, and the visual extinction by
the torus, Av, are related with the magnetic field strength.
The magnetic field strength is estimated to be in the range of 12-128
mG, for the physical conditions and environments of the gas and dust in
the NIR emitting regions of the torus of IC5063.