English: Illustration of a left-handed, clockwise circularly polarized wave as defined from the point of view of the receiver. It would be considered right-handed if defined from the point of view of the source. Refer to Circular polarization Handedness conventions for clarification.

Observe that the helix forms a left-handed screw. The helix is traced out by the electric field vector of wave and indicates that along the direction of travel the electric field has a constant magnitude while its direction steadily changes in a rotary type manner. Note that given this is an electromagnetic wave, for each electric field vector there is corresponding, but not illustrated, magnetic field vector that is at a right angle to the electric field vector and proportional in magnitude to it. As a result it would trace out a second helix if displayed. circular polarization

---

This image was created using the open source program Inkscape. If you open it using that program the image will still be divided into layers and you will have access to information used to create it. If you need to alter it I would suggest first going to my Wikimedia User page at Dave3457 where information is gathered and other related images are listed.

Polarization