Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 August 2015
An elliptical Surface polarimetry of the Night Sky has been carried out at the Boyden Observatory, South Africa. The Milky Way is linearly polarized by p = 1 to 2 % (Figure 1); 11 regions also show a circular polarized light contribution (Table I).
The amounts of circular polarization near v ≈ 0.1 % or less, observed within the Zodiacal Light, are generally not exceeding twice the error of measurement: see Staude and Schmidt (1972). (v > 0 is defined by clockwise rotation, looking against the light source).