This is a brief report on the present status of asteroid polarimetry. A detailed paper is in preparation jointly with T. Gehrels.The first polarization measurements of asteroids were made by Lyot (1934), who photographically determined the polarization curves of Ceres and Vesta. These curves are reproduced by Dollfus (1961). Unfortunately, because of the low sensitivity of the photographic method, they do not agree very well with recent photoelectric measurements.The first photoelectric polarization measurements of asteroids were made by Provin (1955) (details of this work are given by Dollfus, 1961), and in recent years this work has been extended by Gehrels (unpublished) and by Veverka (1970). To date, fairly complete polarization curves for about a dozen asteroids have been obtained, and at least partial data are available for twice that number.
Asteroid Polarimetry: A Progress Report
