A polarization study of comet Hyakutake ( C / 1996 B 2 )

Observations for the linear polarization of comet Hyakutake (C/1996B2) are carriedout at three continuumwavebands: 3650Å, 4845Å and 6840Å. These observations were taken on March 13 and March 18, 1996 when the phase angles were 38.1 and 36.9, respectively. These results indicate an increase in the degree of polarizationwith phase angle andwavelength, in general. Present results show that comet Hyakutake (C/1996 B2) exhibits similar behaviour as comet P/Halley so far as the polarization property is concerned, indicating thereby that the grain size distribution may not be very much different from that of the comet Halley. We also produce theoretical curve for the polarization percentage as a function of phase angle and compare with the observed data. The polarization at various wavebands shows a sensitive behaviour in the phase angle range 20≤ α ≥ 40 .