859 research outputs found
The Extreme Polarimeter: Design, Performance, First Results & Upgrades
Well over 700 exoplanets have been detected to date. Only a handful of these
have been observed directly. Direct observation is extremely challenging due to
the small separation and very large contrast involved. Imaging polarimetry
offers a way to decrease the contrast between the unpolarized starlight and the
light that has become linearly polarized after scattering by circumstellar
material. This material can be the dust and debris found in circumstellar
disks, but also the atmosphere or surface of an exoplanet. We present the
design, calibration approach, polarimetric performance and sample observation
results of the Extreme Polarimeter, an imaging polarimeter for the study of
circumstellar environments in scattered light at visible wavelengths. The
polarimeter uses the beam-exchange technique, in which the two orthogonal
polarization states are imaged simultaneously and a polarization modulator
swaps the polarization states of the two beams before the next image is taken.
The instrument currently operates without the aid of Adaptive Optics. To reduce
the effects of atmospheric seeing on the polarimetry, the images are taken at a
frame rate of 35 fps, and large numbers of frames are combined to obtain the
polarization images. Four successful observing runs have been performed using
this instrument at the 4.2 m William Herschel Telescope on La Palma, targeting
young stars with protoplanetary disks as well as evolved stars surrounded by
dusty envelopes. In terms of fractional polarization, the instrument
sensitivity is better than 10^-4. The contrast achieved between the central
star and the circumstellar source is of the order 10^-6. We show that our
calibration approach yields absolute polarization errors below 1%
O/IR Polarimetry for the 2010 Decade (GAN): Science at the Edge, Sharp Tools for All
Science opportunities and recommendations concerning optical/infrared
polarimetry for the upcoming decade in the field of Galactic science.
Community-based White Paper to Astro2010 in response to the call for such
papers.Comment: White Paper to the Galactic Neighborhood (GAN) Science Frontiers
Panel of the Astro2010 Decadal Surve
Performance of the Gemini Planet Imager Non-Redundant Mask and spectroscopy of two close-separation binaries HR 2690 and HD 142527
The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) contains a 10-hole non-redundant mask (NRM),
enabling interferometric resolution in complement to its coronagraphic
capabilities. The NRM operates both in spectroscopic (integral field
spectrograph, henceforth IFS) and polarimetric configurations. NRM observations
were taken between 2013 and 2016 to characterize its performance. Most
observations were taken in spectroscopic mode with the goal of obtaining
precise astrometry and spectroscopy of faint companions to bright stars. We
find a clear correlation between residual wavefront error measured by the AO
system and the contrast sensitivity by comparing phase errors in observations
of the same source, taken on different dates. We find a typical 5-
contrast sensitivity of at . We explore the
accuracy of spectral extraction of secondary components of binary systems by
recovering the signal from a simulated source injected into several datasets.
We outline data reduction procedures unique to GPI's IFS and describe a newly
public data pipeline used for the presented analyses. We demonstrate recovery
of astrometry and spectroscopy of two known companions to HR 2690 and HD
142527. NRM+polarimetry observations achieve differential visibility precision
of in the best case. We discuss its limitations on
Gemini-S/GPI for resolving inner regions of protoplanetary disks and prospects
for future upgrades. We summarize lessons learned in observing with NRM in
spectroscopic and polarimetric modes.Comment: Accepted to AJ, 22 pages, 14 figure
An investigation of the Eigenvalue Calibration Method (ECM) using GASP for non-imaging and imaging detectors
Polarised light from astronomical targets can yield a wealth of information
about their source radiation mechanisms, and about the geometry of the
scattered light regions. Optical observations, of both the linear and circular
polarisation components, have been impeded due to non-optimised
instrumentation. The need for suitable observing conditions and the
availability of luminous targets are also limiting factors. GASP uses division
of amplitude polarimeter (DOAP) (Compain and Drevillon) to measure the four
components of the Stokes vector simultaneously, which eliminates the
constraints placed upon the need for moving parts during observation, and
offers a real-time complete measurement of polarisation. Results from the GASP
calibration are presented in this work for both a 1D detector system, and a
pixel-by-pixel analysis on a 2D detector system. Following Compain et al. we
use the Eigenvalue Calibration Method (ECM) to measure the polarimetric
limitations of the instrument for each of the two systems. Consequently, the
ECM is able to compensate for systematic errors introduced by the calibration
optics, and it also accounts for all optical elements of the polarimeter in the
output. Initial laboratory results of the ECM are presented, using APD
detectors, where errors of 0.2% and 0.1{\deg} were measured for the degree of
linear polarisation and polarisation angle respectively. Channel-to-channel
image registration is an important aspect of 2-D polarimetry. We present our
calibration results of the measured Mueller matrix of each sample, used by the
ECM. A set of Zenith flat-field images were recorded during an observing
campaign at the Palomar 200 inch telescope in November 2012. From these we show
the polarimetric errors from the spatial polarimetry indicating both the
stability and absolute accuracy of GASP.Comment: Accepted for publication in Experimental Astronom
Calibrating and Stabilizing Spectropolarimeters with Charge Shuffling and Daytime Sky Measurements
Well-calibrated spectropolarimetry studies at resolutions of 10,000 with
signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) better than 0.01\% across individual line
profiles, are becoming common with larger aperture telescopes.
Spectropolarimetric studies require high SNR observations and are often limited
by instrument systematic errors. As an example, fiber-fed spectropolarimeters
combined with advanced line-combination algorithms can reach statistical error
limits of 0.001\% in measurements of spectral line profiles referenced to the
continuum. Calibration of such observations is often required both for
cross-talk and for continuum polarization. This is not straightforward since
telescope cross-talk errors are rarely less than 1\%. In solar
instruments like the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST), much more
stringent calibration is required and the telescope optical design contains
substantial intrinsic polarization artifacts. This paper describes some
generally useful techniques we have applied to the HiVIS spectropolarimeter at
the 3.7m AEOS telescope on Haleakala. HiVIS now yields accurate polarized
spectral line profiles that are shot-noise limited to 0.01\% SNR levels at our
full spectral resolution of 10,000 at spectral sampling of 100,000. We
show line profiles with absolute spectropolarimetric calibration for cross-talk
and continuum polarization in a system with polarization cross-talk levels of
essentially 100\%. In these data the continuum polarization can be recovered to
one percent accuracy because of synchronized charge-shuffling model now working
with our CCD detector. These techniques can be applied to other
spectropolarimeters on other telescopes for both night and day-time
applications such as DKIST, TMT and ELT which have folded non-axially symmetric
foci.Comment: Accepted to A&
Polarisation and Beam Energy Measurement at a Linear Collider
The International Linear Collider (ILC) is a future electron/positron
collider at the energy frontier. Its physics goals are clearly focused on
precision measurements at the electroweak scale and beyond. Beam energy and
beam polarisation are two important beam parameters, which need to be measured
and monitored to any possible precision. We discuss in this publication the
foreseen concepts of beam energy and beam polarisation measurement at the ILC:
Two Compton polarimeters per beam line will determine the beam polarisation.
The anticipated precision of this measurement amounts to , which is a challenging goal putting highest
demands on detector alignment and linearity. Recent detector developments as
well as a detector calibration technique are described, which allow for meeting
these requirements. The beam energy is measured before and after the
interaction point to a targeted precision of . Thereby,
the two foreseen concepts are introduced: A noninvasive energy spectrometer
based on beam position monitors is planned to be operated before the
interaction region. Behind, a synchrotron radiation imaging detector will allow
not only for measuring the beam energy, but also gives access to the beam
energy spread of the (disrupted) beam.Comment: Talk presented at the conference "Instrumentation for Colliding Beam
Physics" (INSTR14), Novosibirsk, Russia, 24 February - 1 March, 201
The unlikely rise of masking interferometry: leading the way with 19th century technology
The exquisite precision delivered by interferometric techniques is rapidly
being applied to more and more branches of optical astronomy. One particularly
successful strategy to obtain structures at the scale of the diffraction limit
is Aperture Masking Interferometry, which is presently experience a golden age
with implementations at a host of large telescopes around the world. This
startlingly durable technique, which turns 144 years old this year, presently
sets the standard for the recovery of faint companions within a few resolution
elements from the core of a stellar point spread function. This invited review
will give a historical introduction and overview of the modern status of the
technique, the science being delivered, and prospects for new advances and
applications.Comment: This is an invited review for SPIE Amsterdam in 2012. It presents a
brief history of masking interferometry, and some thoughts on future
progress. 11 pages, 4 figs, lots of ref
Fast and optimal broad-band Stokes/Mueller polarimeter design by the use of a genetic algorithm
A fast multichannel Stokes/Mueller polarimeter with no mechanically moving
parts has been designed to have close to optimal performance from 430-2000 nm
by applying a genetic algorithm. Stokes (Mueller) polarimeters are
characterized by their ability to analyze the full Stokes (Mueller) vector
(matrix) of the incident light. This ability is characterized by the condition
number, , which directly influences the measurement noise in
polarimetric measurements. Due to the spectral dependence of the retardance in
birefringent materials, it is not trivial to design a polarimeter using
dispersive components. We present here both a method to do this optimization
using a genetic algorithm, as well as simulation results. Our results include
fast, broad-band polarimeter designs for spectrographic use, based on 2 and 3
Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals, whose material properties are taken from
measured values. The results promise to reduce the measurement noise
significantly over previous designs, up to a factor of 4.5 for a Mueller
polarimeter, in addition to extending the spectral range.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Optics Expres
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