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First ultraviolet spectropolarimetry of Be stars from the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter ExperimentThe first UV spectropolarimetric observations of Be stars are presented. They were obtained with the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE) aboard the Astro-1 mission. WUPPE data on the Be stars Zeta Tau and Pi Aqr, along with near-simultaneous optical data obtained at the Pine Bluff Observatory (PBO). Combined WUPPE and PBO data give polarization as a function of wavelength across a very broad spectral region, from 1400 to 7600 A. Existing Be star models predicted increasing polarization toward shorter wavelengths in the UV, but this is not supported by the WUPPE observations. Instead, the observations show a constant or slightly declining continuum polarization shortward of the Balmer jump, and broad UV polarization dips around 1700 and 1900 A, which may be a result of Fe-line-attenuation effects on the polarized flux. Supporting evidence for this conclusion comes from the optical data, in which decreases in polarization across Fe II lines in Zeta Tau were discovered.
Document ID
19920035450
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Bjorkman, K. S.
(Wisconsin Univ. Madison, WI, United States)
Nordsieck, K. H.
(Wisconsin Univ. Madison, WI, United States)
Code, A. D.
(Wisconsin Univ. Madison, WI, United States)
Anderson, C. M.
(Wisconsin Univ. Madison, WI, United States)
Babler, B. L.
(Wisconsin Univ. Madison, WI, United States)
Clayton, G. C.
(Wisconsin Univ. Madison, WI, United States)
Magalhaes, A. M.
(Wisconsin Univ. Madison, WI, United States)
Meade, M. R.
(Wisconsin Univ. Madison, WI, United States)
Nook, M. A.
(Wisconsin Univ. Madison, WI, United States)
Schulte-Ladbeck, R. E.
(Wisconsin, University Madison, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
December 20, 1991
Publication Information
Publication: Astrophysical Journal, Part 2 - Letters
Volume: 383
ISSN: 0004-637X
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
92A18074
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS5-26777
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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