POLARIZATION STUDIES OF COMET P SWIFT-TUTTLE

Comet P/Shift-Tuttle (1992t) was observed on four consecutive nights f rom 1992 November 21 to 24, in the R waveband. On each night the inten sity and polarization patterns reveal jets emerging from the nucleus. The jets are identified with three active regions, and a rotation peri od of approximately 2.8 d can be deduced. The general level of polariz ation is typical for a comet at the observed phase angle. Ln the jets the polarization is up to 4 per cent higher than in the surroundings.