Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

I. Introduction : Preface / Ludmilla Kolokolova, James Hough, and Anny-Chantal Levasseur-Regourd ; The life of Tom Gehrels / Neil, George, Jo-Ann, and Aleida Gehrels -- II. Theory, instrumentation, and laboratory studies : Measurement and modeling of electromagnetic scattering by particles and particle groups / Michael I. Mishchenko ; Instrumentation / Christoph U. Keller, Frans Snik, David M. Harrington, and Chris Packham ; Laboratory studies / Anny-Chantal Levasseur-Regourd, Jean-Baptiste Renard, Yuriy Shkuratov, and Edith Hadamcik ; Grain alignment: role of radiative torques and paramagnetic relaxation / Alexander Lazarian, B-G Anderson, and Thiem Hoang ; Multiple scattering of light in particulate planetary media / Karri Muinonen, Antti Penttilä, and Gorden Videen ; Experimental scattering matrices of clouds of randomly oriented particles / Olga Muñoz and Joop W. Hovenier -- III. Stars and their environment : Interstellar polarization / Terry Jay Jones and Douglas C. B. Whittet ; Young stellar objects and their environment / Motohide Tamura and Jungmi Kwon ; T Tauri and Herbig Ae/Be stars / Pierre Bastien ; Magnetic fields in high-mass star-forming regions / Antonio Chrysostomou, Martin Houde, and Brenda C. Matthews ; Evolved stars / Tim Gledhill ; Stellar magnetic fields / Stefano Bagnulo and John D. Landstreet ; Imaging of protoplanetary and debris disks / Marshall D. Perrin, Dean C. Hines, John P. Wisniewski, and Glenn Schneider -- IV. Solar system : The sun / Jan O. Stenflo ; Terrestrial planets / Vadym Kaydash, Yuriy Shkuratov, Michael Wolff, and Gorden Videen ; The moon / Yuriy Shkuratov, Nikolay Opanasenko, Viktor Korokhin, and Gorden Videen ; Gas giant planets, Saturn's rings, and Titan / Robert A. West, Padma A. Yanamadra-Fisher, and Viktor Korokhin ; Icy moons of the outer planets / Vera Rosenbush, Nikolai Kiselev, and Viktor Afanasiev ; Asteroids / Alberto Cellino, Ricardo Gil-Hutton, and Irina Belskaya ; Comets / Nikolai Kiselev, Vera Rosenbush, Anny-Chantal Levasseur-Regourd, and Ludmilla Kolokolova ; Transneptunian objects and Centaurs / Irina Belskaya and Stefano Bagnulo ; Interplanetary dust / Jérémie Lasue, Anny-Chantal Levasseur-Regourd, and Alexander Lazarian -- V. Exoplanets and exobiology : Exoplanets / Sloane J. Wiktorowicz and Daphne M. Stam ; Astrobiology / William Sparks, James Hough, and Ludmilla Kolokolova -- Appendix: Polarimetric definitions for astronomy.

Summarising the striking advances of the last two decades, this reliable introduction to modern astronomical polarimetry provides a comprehensive review of state-of-the-art techniques, models and research methods. Focusing on optical and near-infrared wavelengths, each detailed, up-to-date chapter addresses a different facet of recent innovations, including new instrumentation, techniques and theories; new methods based on laboratory studies, enabling the modelling of polarimetric characteristics for a wide variety of astronomical objects; emerging fields of polarimetric exploration, including proto-planetary and debris discs, icy satellites, transneptunian objects, exoplanets, and the search for extraterrestrial life; and unique results produced by space telescopes, and polarimeters aboard exploratory spacecraft. With contributions from an international team of accomplished researchers, this is an ideal resource for astronomers and researchers working in astrophysics, earth sciences, and remote sensing keen to learn more about this valuable diagnostic tool. The book is dedicated to the memory of renowned polarimetrist Tom Gehrels.