An accurate and realistic polarization model for night-sky brightness
- Author(s)
- M. Kocifaj, P. Markoš, F. Kundracik, J. C. Barentine, S. Wallner
- Abstract
Most measurements of the diffuse light of the night sky to date consider only the intensity of the light field, and current models can successfully reproduce these measurements. However, this approach is incomplete as it overlooks the polarization state of the light. Few measurements (and no successful models) of night-sky polarimetry appear in the literature. We present a new model of night-sky polarization that successfully reproduces observations in a heterogeneous environment and for a real distribution of finite-sized light sources over the intermediate region surrounding the observer. The model compares favourably with field measurements made in Slovakia in 2021 May. The results described herein help advance understanding of the angular distributions of artificial light at night from ground sources and the relative contributions of sources to the overall brightness of the night sky.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Astrophysics
- External organisation(s)
- Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS), Comenius University Bratislava
- Journal
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
- Volume
- 532
- Pages
- L70-L74
- ISSN
- 1745-3925
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/slae048
- Publication date
- 07-2024
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 103003 Astronomy, 103004 Astrophysics, 105906 Environmental geosciences
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Astronomy and Astrophysics, Space and Planetary Science
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/199a20bd-381e-4304-8243-a2834154ab04