SPECTROPOLARIMETRY OF THE BIPOLAR PLANETARY-NEBULA M2-9

We investigate the nature of one of the brightness enhancements or kno ts, N2, observed in the lobes of M2-9, a proto-planetary nebula. These knots have exhibited a remarkable change in their E-W positions over the past 40 years and their origin is still not well understood. We us e the technique of optical spectropolarimetry to separate the combinat ion of reflected and locally emitted spectra present in the lobes of M 2-9 in order to derive the local physical conditions in the knot N2 an d adjacent nebula.