Related papers: Polarimetry in Planetary Sciences and Astronomy
Many polarisation techniques have been harnessed for decades in biological and clinical research, each based upon measurement of the vectorial properties of light or the vectorial transformations imposed on light by objects. Various…
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…
This article aims to provide a brief overview of both established and novel ellipsometry techniques, as well as their applications. Ellipsometry is an indirect optical technique in that information about the physical properties of a sample…
We point out some advantages of making observations of extrasolar planets in linearly polarized (LP) light. Older cool stars have quite low levels (~ 10^-4 to 10^-5) of fractional LP, while extrasolar planets can have relatively high…
Kostelecky and Mewes have recently shown that sensitive constraints can be placed on some aspects of Lorentz symmetry violation using certain astronomical data on high-redshift sources. Here, I introduce that data in its astronomical…
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 disciplines of asteroseismology and extrasolar planet science overlap methodically in the branch of high-precision photometric time series observations. Light curves are, amongst others, useful to measure intrinsic stellar variability…
Context. The discovery of an extrasolar planet with an ocean has crucial importance in the search for life beyond Earth. The polarimetric detection of specularly reflected light from a smooth liquid surface is anticipated theoretically,…
Advances in vectorial polarisation-resolved imaging are bringing new capabilities to applications ranging from fundamental physics through to clinical diagnosis. Imaging polarimetry requires determination of the Mueller matrix (MM) at every…
Lorentz symmetry is the fundamental symmetry of Einstein's theory of Special Relativity and has been tested to great precision. Nevertheless, the possibility remains that it is violated at the Planck scale, as predicted by some theories of…
X-ray polarimetry has the potential to make key-contributions to our understanding of galactic compact objects like binary black hole systems and neutron stars, and extragalactic objects like active galactic nuclei, blazars, and Gamma Ray…
We calculate the degree of linear polarization of radiation from stars having planets that may not be resolved spatially. We assume single scattering by water and silicate particulates in the planetary atmosphere. The dilution of the…
X-ray polarimetry is now providing a new way to look at the high energy sky. The addition of two observables, polarization fraction and angle, reveals crucial new information on the structure of accretion flows and magnetic fields in…
When light scatters off an object its polarization, in general, changes - a transformation described by the object's Mueller matrix. Mueller matrix imaging polarimetry is an important technique in science and technology to image the…
Exoplanetary science is a very active field of astronomy nowadays, with questions still opened such as how planetary systems form and evolve (occurrence, process), why such a diversity of exoplanets is observed (mass, radius, orbital…
The polarization of x-rays plays an outstanding role in experimental techniques such as non-resonant magnetic x-ray scattering and resonant x-ray scattering of magnetic and multipolar order. Different instrumental methods applied to…
The gravitational microlensing as a unique astrophysical tool can be used for studying the atmosphere of stars thousands of parsec far from us. This capability results from the bending of light rays in the gravitational field of a lens…
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…
The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), planned for launch in the 2040s, represents the next major step in exoplanet characterisation. HWO will, for the first time, enable detailed studies of the atmospheres and surfaces of Earth-like…
Specularly reflected light, or glint, from an ocean surface may provide a useful observational tool for studying extrasolar terrestrial planets. Detection of sea-surface glints would differentiate ocean-bearing terrestrial planets, i.e.…