Related papers: PICSARR: high-precision polarimetry using CMOS ima…
We report the first results from an X-ray polarimeter with a micropattern gas proportional counter using an amorphous silicon active matrix readout. With 100% polarized X-rays at 4.5 keV, we obtain a modulation factor of 0.33 +/- 0.03,…
Optical polarimeters are typically calibrated using measurements of stars with known and stable polarization parameters. However, there is a lack of such stars available across the sky. Many of the currently available standards are not…
X-Ray Polarimetry can be now performed by using a Micro Pattern Gas Chamber in the focus of a telescope. It requires large area optics for most important scientific targets. But since the technique is additive a dedicated mission with a…
A simple, self-calibrating, rotating-waveplate polarimeter is largely insensitive to light intensity fluctuations and is shown to be useful for determining the Stokes parameters of light. This study shows how to minimize the in situ…
POLAR is a novel compact Compton X-ray polarimeter designed to measure the linear polarization of the prompt emission of Gamma Ray Bursts (GRB) and other strong transient sources such as soft gamma repeaters and solar flares in the energy…
Many spectacular polarimetric images have been obtained in recent years with adaptive optics (AO) instruments at large telescopes because they profit significantly from the high spatial resolution. This paper summarizes some basic…
We present a concept for an imaging gamma-ray polarimeter operating from ~50 MeV to ~1 GeV. Such an instrument would be valuable for the study of high-energy pulsars, active galactic nuclei, supernova remnants, and gamma-ray bursts. The…
POLAR is space-borne detector designed for a precise measurement of gamma-ray polarization of the prompt emissions of Gamma-Ray Bursts in the energy range 50 keV - 500 keV. POLAR is a compact Compton polarimeter consisting of 40$\times$ 40…
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…
A new method for absolute polarimetric calibration of large telescopes is presented. The proposed method is highly accurate and is based on the calibration of a small sub-aperture, which is then extended to the full system by means of…
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…
NICMOS cameras 1 and 2 each carry a set of three polarizing elements to provide high sensitivity observations of linearly polarized light. The polarizers are bandpass limited and provide diffraction-limited imaging in camera 1 at 0.8 -…
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…
The design and the simulated performances of a compact detector dedicated to the measurement of GRB photon polarization is presented. Such a detector would permit to answer the question ``are most of the GRB strongly polarized?'' in a…
Detecting and studying pulsars above a few GHz in the radio band is challenging due to the typical faintness of pulsar radio emission, their steep spectra, and the lack of observatories with sufficient sensitivity operating at high…
The value of accurately knowing the absolute calibration of the polarizing elements in the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) becomes especially important when conducting studies which require measuring degrees of…
The ability of NICMOS to perform high accuracy polarimetry is currently hampered by an uncalibrated residual instrumental polarization at a level of 1.2-1.5%. To better quantify and characterize this residual we obtained observations of…
We present a portable polarimeter capable of real-time visualization of partial and fully polarized light over a broad band of wavelengths. Our system utilizes a Raspberry Pi computer with a low-cost data acquisition "HAT" (DAQ HAT) and an…
Gamma-ray polarimetry is a new powerful tool to study the processes responsible for the emission from astrophysical sources and the environments in which this emission takes place. Few successful polarimetric measurements have however been…
POLAR is a compact polarimeter dedicated to measure the polarization of GRBs between 50-300 keV. The light collection of 200*6*6mm3 plastic bars has been simulated and optimized in order to get uniform response to x-rays at different points…