The quantum mechanical expression for the angle-dependent photofragment multipole moments is derived with only the dipole approximation. The angular momentum coupling between the two fragments is taken into account for the first time. The result is also compared with the formal expansion method assuming fixed mu-v-J vector correlation for all scattering angles [Y. Mo and T. Suzuki, J. Chem. Phys. 108, 6780 (1998)]. The condition that reduces the rigorous formula to the approximate formula is examined. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-9606(99)00945-9].