A high precision polarimeter for small telescopes

Abstract

We describe Mini-HIPPI (Miniature HIgh Precision Polarimetric Instrument), a stellar polarimeter weighing just 650 grams but capable of measuring linear polarization to $\sim 10^{-5}$. Mini-HIPPI is based on the use of a Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal (FLC) modulator. It can easily be mounted on a small telescope and allows study of 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. Meaurements 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.

7 pages, 7 figures, accepted by MNRAS

References in corpus (5)

• New Grids of ATLAS9 Model Atmospheres
• A high-sensitivity polarimeter using a ferro-electric liquid crystal modulator
• Planetpol polarimetry of the exoplanet systems 55 Cnc and tau Boo
• A High Precision, Optical Polarimeter to Measure Inclinations of High Mass X-Ray Binaries
• Simultaneous Linear and Circular Optical Polarimetry of Asteroid (4) Vesta

Cited by in corpus (4)

• The intrinsic and interstellar broadband linear polarization of nearby FGK dwarfs
• HIPPI-2: A Versatile High Precision Polarimeter
• RefPlanets: Search for reflected light from extra-solar planets with SPHERE/ZIMPOL
• The polarization of the binary system Spica, and the reflection of light from stars