Abstract:
We present the polarimetric results and analysis of Comet C/2012 L2 (LINEAR) observed at 31°.1 phase
angle before perihelion passage. The observations of the comet were carried out using ARIES Imaging
Polarimeter (AIMPOL) mounted on the 1.04-m Sampurnanand telescope of ARIES, Nainital, India on 11
and 12 March, 2013 using R photometric band (ʎ = 630 nm, ∆ʎ= 120 nm). The extended coma of the
comet (~65000 km) shows a significant variation in the intensity as well as polarization profile in all con-
sidered directions which suggest that the dust particles originate from the active areas of the nucleus. The
elongation of the coma is prominent along the Sun–comet position angle. The polarization of Comet C/
2012 L2 (LINEAR) do not show steep radial dependence on the aperture size during both the nights of
observation. A jet extended in the antisolar direction is well observed in both intensity and polarization
map.
