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Astronomical polarimetry is a powerful technique that can provide physical information sometimes difficult or impossible to obtain by any other type of observation. Almost every class of binary star can benefit from polarimetric…
In this chapter we present a brief summary of methods, instruments and calibration techniques used in modern astronomical polarimetry in the optical wavelengths. We describe the properties of various polarization devices and detectors used…
Aims: To propose a method for the polarimetric calibration of large astronomical mirrors that does not require use of special optical devices nor knowledge of the exact polarization properties of the calibration target. Methods: We study…
Using the formalism of Hamaker et al. (1996), I derive a method for the polarization calibration of observations made with a single radio telescope. This method is particularly appropriate for observations of pulsars, where the sign and…
Polarization is a basic property of light and is fundamentally linked to the internal geometry of a source of radiation. Polarimetry complements photometric, spectroscopic, and imaging analyses of sources of radiation and has made possible…
We designed and built a new astronomical photo-polarimeter that can measure linear polarization simultaneously in three spectral bands. It has a Calcite beamdisplacement prism as the analyzer. The ordinary and extra-ordinary emerging beams…
We report on the experimental implementation of a polarimeter based on a scheme known to be optimal for obtaining the polarization vector of ensembles of spin-1/2 quantum systems, and the alignment procedure for this polarimeter is…
Polarimetry remains a largely unexploited technique in observational X-ray astronomy which could provide insight in the study of the strong gravity and magnetic fields at the core of the Constellation-X observational program. Adding a…
The use of polarimetric techniques is nowadays widespread among solar and stellar astronomers. However, notwithstanding the recommandations that have often been made about the publication of polarimetric results in the astronomical…
We have built and tested a compact, low-cost, but very-high-performance astronomical polarimeter based on a continuously rotating half-wave plate and a high-speed imaging detector. The polarimeter is suitable for small telescopes up to ~1 m…
Polarimetry provides key physical information on the properties of interacting binary systems, sometimes difficult to obtain by any other type of observation. Indeed, radiation processes such as scattering by free electrons in the hot…
Many objects on the sky exhibit a centrosymmetric polarization pattern, particularly in cases involving single scattering around a central source. Utilizing a novel liquid crystal device (the ``theta cell'') that transforms the coordinate…
Observational data for dusty comets are summarized and systemized. The dependence of the linear polarization on various parameters (the phase angle, wavelength, etc.) is analyzed. An ensemble of aligned spheroidal particles having various…
Photons preferentially Compton scatter perpendicular to the plane of polarisation. This property can be exploited to design instruments to measure the linear polarisation of hard X-rays ($\sim$10 - 100 keV). Photons may undergo two…
Astrophysical polarization measurements provide some of the strongest constraints on the photon sector of the non-minimal Standard-Model Extension. This paper reviews some recent results obtained by combining optical linear and circular…
We consider a method for obtaining information on polarization of astronomical objects radiation at diffraction limited resolution - differential speckle polarimetry. As an observable we propose to use averaged cross spectrum of two…
In the last decade, imaging polarimeters based on micropolarizer arrays have been developed for use in terrestrial remote sensing and metrology applications. Micropolarizer-based sensors are dramatically smaller and more mechanically robust…
In recent decades, the relevance of polarimetry in planetary sciences and astronomy has increased rapidly. Polarization is a fundamental property of light and can be modified by any scattering event. As such, polarization yields additional…
A mathematical framework is presented for use in the experimental determination of the polarimetric response of observatory instrumentation. Elementary principles of linear algebra are applied to model the full matrix description of the…
Possible instrumental set--ups for the measurement of CMB polarization are reviewed in this article. We discuss existing and planned instruments, putting special emphasis on observational, instrumental, and data processing issues for the…