High-resolution Continuum Polarization Measurements in the Near-infrared to Submillimeter Wavelength Range

摘要

We present high-resolution polarization maps, obtained with near-infrared instruments such as ISAAC at the VLT, SOFI at the NTT, and SCUBA at the JCMT. While we use the near-infrared polarization maps to determine the structure of the optical reflection nebula Cederblad 110 IRS 4 and to investigate the alignment of circumstellar disks around T Tauri binary stars, submillimeter polarization maps are used to derive the magnetic field structure and strength in Bok globules. Furthermore we show that near-infrared polarimetry represents a powerful tool to distinguish between different polarization models developed for active galactic nuclei.