HST observations of the limb polarization of Titan

Titan is an excellent test case for detailed studies of the scattering polarization from thick hazy atmospheres. We present the first limb polarization measurements of Titan, which are compared as a test to our limb polarization models. Previously unpublished imaging polarimetry from the HST archive is presented which resolves the disk of Titan. We determine flux-weighted averages of the limb polarization and radial limb polarization profiles, and investigate the degradation and cancelation effects in the polarization signal due to the limited spatial resolution of our observations. Taking this into account we derive corrected values for the limb polarization in Titan. The results are compared with limb polarization models, using atmosphere and haze scattering parameters from the literature. In the wavelength bands between 250 nm and 2000 nm a strong limb polarization of about 2-7 % is detected with a position angle perpendicular to the limb. The fractional polarization is highest around 1 micron. As a first approximation, the polarization seems to be equally strong along the entire limb. The detected polarization is compatible with expectations from previous polarimetric observations taken with Voyager 2, Pioneer 11, and the Huygens probe. Our results indicate that ground-based monitoring measurements of the limb-polarization of Titan could be useful for investigating local haze properties and the impact of short-term and seasonal variations of the hazy atmosphere of Titan. Planets with hazy atmospheres similar to Titan are particularly good candidates for detection with the polarimetric mode of the upcoming planet finder instrument at the VLT. Therefore, a good knowledge of the polarization properties of Titan is also important for the search and investigation of extra-solar planets.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

A simple optimized amplitude pupil mask for attempting to direct imaging of Proxima b with SPHERE/ZIMPOL at VLT

Proxima b is a terrestrial exoplanet orbiting in the habitable zone of our closest star Proxima Centauri. The separation between the planet and the star is about 40 mas and this is with current instruments only reachable with direct imaging, using a visual extreme AO system like SPHERE/ZIMPOL. Unfortunately, the planet falls under the first airy ring at 2$\lambda$/D in the I band, which degrades achievable contrast. We present the design, optical simulations and testing of an amplitude pupil mask for ZIMPOL that reshapes the PSF, increasing the contrast at $r = 2\lambda$/D about an order of magnitude. The simple mask can be inserted directly into the current setup of SPHERE.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, Poster presented at SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation 201

Measurement of the earthshine polarization in the B, V, R, and I band as function of phase

The characterization of the polarimetric properties of the planet Earth is important for the interpretation of expected observations and the planning of future instruments. We present a multi-wavelengths and multi-phase set of benchmark values for the polarization signal of the integrated light from the planet Earth derived from new polarimetric observations of the earthshine back-scattered from the Moon's dark side. Using a new, specially designed wide field polarimeter we measured the fractional polarization of the earthshine in the B, V, R and I filters for Earth phase angles alpha between 30{\deg} and 110{\deg}. The phase dependence of the earthshine polarization is fitted by a function p x sin(alpha)^2. To determine the polarization of the planet Earth we correct our earthshine measurements by a polarization efficiency function for the lunar surface derived from measurements of lunar samples from the literature. The polarization of the earthshine decreases towards longer wavelengths and is about a factor 1.3 lower for the higher albedo highlands. For mare regions the measured maximum polarization is about 13 % at quadrature in the B band. The resulting fractional polarizations for Earth are 24.6 % for the B band, 19.1 % for the V band, 13.5 % for the R band, and 8.3 % for the I band. Together with literature values for the spectral reflectivity of Earth we obtain a contrast between the polarized flux of the Earth and the (total) flux of the Sun with an uncertainty of less than 20 % and we find that the best phase to detect an Earth twin is around an Earth phase alpha=65{\deg}. The polarimetric models of Earth-like planets from Stam (2008) are in qualitative agreement with our results but there are also significant differences which might guide more detailed computations.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

The nearby population of M dwarfs with WISE: A search for warm circumstellar dust

Circumstellar debris disks are important because of their connection to planetary systems. An efficient way to identify these systems is through their infrared excess. Most studies so far concentrated on early-type or solar-type stars, but less effort has gone into investigating M dwarfs. We characterize the mid-infrared photometric behavior of M dwarfs and search for infrared excess in nearby M dwarfs taken from the volume-limited RECONS sample using data from the WISE satellite and the 2MASS catalog. Our sample consists of 85 sources encompassing 103 M dwarfs. We derive empirical infrared colors from these data and discuss their errors. Based on this, we check the stars for infrared excess and discuss the minimum excess we would be able to detect. Other than the M8.5 dwarf SCR 1845-6357 A, where the excess is produced by a known T6 companion, we detect no excesses in any of our sample stars. The limits we derive for the 22um excess are slightly higher than the usual detection limit of 10-15% for Spitzer studies, but including the [12]-[22] color in our analysis allows us to derive tight constraints on the fractional dust luminosity L_dust/L_star. We show that this result is consistent with M dwarf excesses in the mid-inrared being as frequent as excesses around earlier-type stars. The low detection rate could be an age effect. We also present a tentative excess detection at 22um around the known cold debris disk M dwarf AU Mic, which is not part of our statistical sample. There is still no clear detection of a mid-infrared excess around any old (>30 Myr) main-sequence M dwarf. It is unclear whether this is due to a different dust evolution around M dwarfs or whether this is an age effect combined with the diffculties involved in searching M dwarfs for infrared excesses. A significantly larger sample of well-studied M dwarfs is required to solve this question.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 15 pages, 7 figure

Hydrodynamical simulations of the jet in the symbiotic star MWC 560 I. Structure, emission and synthetic absorption line profiles

We performed hydrodynamical simulations with and without radiative cooling of jet models with parameters representative for the symbiotic system MWC 560. For symbiotic systems we have to perform jet simulations of a pulsed underdense jet in a high density ambient medium. We present the jet structure resulting from our simulations and calculate emission plots which account for expected radiative processes. In addition, our calculations provide expansion velocities for the jet bow shock, the density and temperature structure in the jet, and the propagation and evolution of the jet pulses. In MWC 560 the jet axis is parallel to the line of sight so that the outflowing jet gas can be seen as blue shifted, variable absorption lines in the continuum of the underlying jet source. Based on our simulations we calculate and discuss synthetic absorption profiles. Based on a detailed comparison between model spectra and observations we discuss our hydrodynamical calculations for a pulsed jet in MWC 560 and suggest improvements for future models.Comment: 17 pages, 26 figures, accepted for publication in A &

Shadows and cavities in protoplanetary disks: HD163296, HD141569A, and HD150193A in polarized light

The morphological evolution of dusty disks around young (few Myr-old) stars is pivotal to better understand planet formation. Since both dust grains and the global disk geometry evolve on short timescale, high-resolution imaging of a sample of objects may provide important hints towards such an evolution. We enlarge the sample of protoplanetary disks imaged in polarized light with high-resolution by observing the Herbig Ae/Be stars HD163296, HD141569A, and HD150193A. We integrate our data with previous datasets to paint a larger picture of their morphology. We report a weak detection of the disk around HD163296 in both H and Ks band. The disk is resolved as a broken ring structure with a significan surface brightness drop inward of 0.6 arcsec. No sign of extended polarized emission is detected from the disk around HD141569A and HD150193A. We propose that the absence of scattered light in the inner 0.6 arcsec around HD163296 and the non-detection of the disk around HD150193A may be due to similar geometric factors. Since these disks are known to be flat or only moderately flared, self-shadowing by the disk inner wall is the favored explanation. We show that the polarized brightness of a number of disks is indeed related to their flaring angle. Other scenarios (such as dust grain growth or interaction with icy molecules) are also discussed. On the other hand, the non-detection of HD141569A is consistent with previous datasets revealing the presence of a huge cavity in the dusty disk.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures; accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysic

Reduction of polarimetric data using Mueller calculus applied to Nasmyth instruments

We present a method based on Mueller calculus to calibrate linear polarimetric observations. The key advantages of the proposed way of calibration are: (1) that it can be implemented in a data reduction pipeline, (2) that it is possible to do accurate polarimetry also for telescopes/instruments with polarimetric non-friendly architecture (e.g. Nasmyth instruments) and (3) that the proposed strategy is much less time consuming than standard calibration procedures. The telescope/instrument will polarimetrically be described by a train of Mueller matrices. The components of these matrices are dependent on wavelength, incident angle of the incoming light and surface properties.Comment: 2 figure