Polarized Brightness Distributions of Supernova Remnants IC 443 and W44 at 6-CM Wavelength

Polarized brightness distributions of two supernova remnants, IC 443 and W44, have been deter- mined at 6-cm wavelength, from observations made with a resolution of 6', by using the 140-foot reflector of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Both IC 443 and W44 are partially linearly polarized at 6-cm wavelength. The degree of polarization and orientation of electric vectors are different at different parts of IC 443. Over its southeastern rim, the degree of polarization is large, about 4.5 per cent, and the orientation of electric field is largely tangential. Over its northeastern peak, the degree of polarization is low, and the field orientation is random. The distribution of polarized brightness in W44 is broadly similar to that of total intensity. The peak of linearly polarized radiation roughly coincides with the peak of total intensity, and the electric field has a systematic alignment with a position angle of 400 over the main peak as well as over the eastern region. The degree of polarization is negligibly small over the peak of the isolated source situated to the west of W44 around a = 18h50m528 and ô = O1°11'30", which indicates that it is thermal in nature