Astronomical Polarimetry with the RIT Polarization Imaging Camera

Abstract

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 than other polarimeters with similar spectral response and snapshot capability. To determine the suitability of these new polarimeters for astronomical applications, we developed the RIT Polarization Imaging Camera to investigate the performance of these devices, with a special attention to the low signal-to-noise regime. We characterized the device performance in the lab, by determining the relative throughput, efficiency, and orientation of every pixel, as a function of wavelength. Using the resulting pixel response model, we developed demodulation procedures for aperture photometry and imaging polarimetry observing modes. We found that, using the current calibration, RITPIC is capable of detecting polarization signals as small as $\sim 0.3\%$. The relative ease of data collection, calibration, and analysis provided by these sensors suggest than they may become an important tool for a number of astronomical targets.

As part of the review process, it was decided to split the original manuscript into two papers: one describing the instrument and observations on the 0.9 m telescope at CTIO and the second, describing the solar eclipse data, obtained in Madras, Oregon. This is the first of the two papers

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Cited by in corpus (4)

• Instrumentation for solar spectropolarimetry: state of the art and prospects
• Coronal Photopolarimetry with the LASCO-C2 Coronagraph over 24 Years [1996-2019] -- Application to the K/F Separation and to the Determination of the Electron Density
• Restitution of the K and F Components of the Solar Corona from LASCO-C2 Images over 24 Years [1996--2019]
• Imaging Polarimetry of the 2017 Solar Eclipse with the RIT Polarization Imaging Camera