TY - JOUR
T1 - A high-precision polarimeter for small telescopes
AU - Bailey, Jeremy
AU - Cotton, Daniel V.
AU - Kedziora-Chudczer, Lucyna
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - We describe Mini-HIPPI (Miniature HIgh Precision Polarimetric Instrument), a stellar polarimeter weighing just 650 gm but capable of measuring linear polarization to ~10-5. Mini- HIPPI is based on the use of a Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal modulator. It can easily be mounted on a small telescope and allows us to study the polarization of bright stars at levels of precision which are hitherto largely unexplored. We present results obtained with Mini-HIPPI on a 35-cm telescope. Measurements of polarized standard stars are in good agreement with predicted values. Measurements of a number of bright stars agree well with those from other high-sensitivity polarimeters. Observations of the binary system Spica show polarization variability around the orbital cycle.
AB - We describe Mini-HIPPI (Miniature HIgh Precision Polarimetric Instrument), a stellar polarimeter weighing just 650 gm but capable of measuring linear polarization to ~10-5. Mini- HIPPI is based on the use of a Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal modulator. It can easily be mounted on a small telescope and allows us to study the polarization of bright stars at levels of precision which are hitherto largely unexplored. We present results obtained with Mini-HIPPI on a 35-cm telescope. Measurements of polarized standard stars are in good agreement with predicted values. Measurements of a number of bright stars agree well with those from other high-sensitivity polarimeters. Observations of the binary system Spica show polarization variability around the orbital cycle.
UR - https://hdl.handle.net/1959.7/uws:63929
U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stw2886
DO - 10.1093/mnras/stw2886
M3 - Article
SN - 0035-8711
VL - 465
SP - 1601
EP - 1607
JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
IS - 2
ER -