Optical polarization and infrared spectrum of a possible protostar in a reflection nebula

The star HD 200775 illuminates the reflection nebula NGC 7023. This star is one of a small group of Ae and Be stars associated with nebulosity and proposed by Herbig as candidates for newly formed stars of moderately large mass. The system is a part of a large dust complex more than a degree in extent. Structural features in the nebulosity can be traced very near to the star (several are seconds away) and some of these structures are highly polarized in the sense expected for scattered light from the central object. Although the star is classified as an early spectral type (B2-B8) of moderate luminosity (class IV or V), its energy distribution does not resemble a black body characteristic of a stellar photosphere. Instead, the radiated flux has the appearance of free free radiation (thermal bremsstrahlung) usually considered to arise in astrophysical situations involving optically thin plasmas of ions and free electrons. Our observations are consistent with the belief that HD 200775 is a protostar and that the surrounding material is the cocoon from which it formed. The complex polarized structures probably originate in material ejected by radiation pressure and plasma processes as the star rose in luminosity after its gravitational collapse.