Light Scattering by Solar System Dust: The Opposition Effect and the Reversal of Polarization

Abstract

The opposition effect and the reversal of linear polarization, or negative polarization, at small phase angles have been almost universally observed in light scattered from atmosphereless solar system bodies (e.g., Seeliger 1887, Lyot 1929). Recent investigations have indicated that both phenomena can be qualitatively understood as resulting from a common physical mechanism: coherent multiple backscattering (Shkuratov 1989, Muinonen 1989). These findings have cast doubt on the hitherto accepted explanation that mutual shadowing alone is responsible for the opposition effect, and for the first time offer an acceptable interpretation of the polarization reversal near opposition. As for interplanetary dust, the coherent backscattering mechanism contributes both to the Gegenschein and to the almost certainly existing negative polarization branch (Roosen 1970, Lumme and Bowell 1985).In the following, theoretical results supporting the coherent backscattering explanation are briefly presented. As future work, we suggest modeling light scattering by a particulate medium to include the first, second and, if necessary, higher orders of scattering in the range below the typical particle size.