A multichannel Pockels cell spectropolarimeter for the Anglo-Australian Telescope
Open Access
- 1 August 1984
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Vol. 209 (3) , 655-664
- https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/209.3.655
Abstract
A powerful new faint-object spectropolarimeter for the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian Telescope is described. It employs an existing spectrograph and Image Photon Counting System (IPCS) together with a custom-built Pockels cell (electro-optic) polarimeter. Quarter-wave plates may be introduced above the cell and thus both linear and circular polarization may be measured. A very high polarimetric efficiency is obtained over the entire optical spectrum; peak values of 96 per cent are observed. Instrumental polarization is negligible and the measurement precision is limited only by photon counting statistics. Simultaneous spectrophotometry is possible with only a modest loss in sensitivity compared with the normal spectroscopic mode. Examples of observations are described.Keywords
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