Polarimetry of small bodies and satellites of our Solar System

Abstract

The large majority of astronomical observations are based on intensity measurements as a function of either wavelength or time, or both. Polarimetry, a technique which measures the way in which the electromagnetic field associated to the radiation oscillates, does provide further information about the objects that have emitted or scattered the observed radiation. For instance, polarimetric measurements can provide important constraints to the characterisation of cosmic dust (be it of interstellar or cometary origin), of the surfaces of the atmosphereless bodies and of planetary atmospheres. This property has been exploited in solar system science to study asteroids, comets, rocky and giant gaseous planets, and their satellites. In this paper we present a review of the polarimetric studies of the small bodies of the Solar System.