Probing the extended emission-line region in 3C171 with high-frequency radio polarimetry

Abstract

I present high-frequency polarimetric radio observations of the radio galaxy 3C171, in which depolarization is associated with an extended emission-line region. The radio hotspots, known to be depolarized at low radio frequencies, become significantly polarized above (observer's-frame) frequencies of 15 GHz. There is some evidence that some of the Faraday rotation structure associated with the emission-line regions is being resolved at the highest resolutions (0.1 arcsec, or 400 pc); however, the majority remains unresolved. Using the new radio data and a simple model for the nature of the depolarizing screen, it is possible to place some constraints on the nature of the medium responsible for the depolarization. I argue that it is most likely that the depolarization is due not to the emission-line material itself but to a second, less dense, hot phase of the shocked ISM, and derive some limits on its density and temperature.