2000ApJ...540..422P

We have obtained J-band (1.2 µm) polarimetry observations of the circumbinary disk around UY Aurigae. These observations were made possible by the use of the University of Hawaii 36 element adaptive optics instrument, Hokupa'a, at the 3.35 m CFHT. The deep (120 minute), high-resolution (0".15) polarization images reveal a centrosymmetric polarization signature from the light scattered off the circumbinary dust disk which is ∼10⁶ times fainter than the stars in the binary system. A comparison with a Mie scattering model of the circumbinary disk in UY Aurigae suggests that the polarization signature is dominated by the smallest grains in the disk (∼0.03 µm) and further supports the hypothesis that the resolved light seen in the optical and infrared originates from a large flattened disk of dust surrounding both stars.