On Errors in Constructing the Polarization Phase Dependences for Solar System Bodies

In astrophysical studies of Solar System bodies, the measured values of the linear polarization degree Pobs and the position angle of the polarization plane θ are usually considered relative to the plane orthogonal to the scattering plane; and the resulting quantities are designated as Pr and θr, respectively. Parameters of the phase curve of polarization Pr = f(α) serve for determining the physical characteristics of grains composing the regolith surfaces of such bodies as, for example, the Moon, Mercury, asteroids, and planetary satellites, or the polydisperse media, such as cometary comae and tails. In this paper it has been shown that the error in the polarization degree grows \({\sigma _{{P_r}}}\) due to the error \({\sigma _{{\theta _{obs}}}}\) in determining the position angle. The interrelations between these errors were obtained, and the conditions, under which the values of the linear polarization degree Pr relative to the orthogonal system can be used to analyze the phase dependences of polarization, were formulated.