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Optical Polarimetry: Methods, Instruments and Calibration Techniques

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Astronomical Polarisation from the Infrared to Gamma Rays

Part of the book series: Astrophysics and Space Science Library ((ASSL,volume 460))

Abstract

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 polarisation devices and detectors used for optical broadband, imaging and spectropolarimetry, and discuss their advantages and disadvantages. The necessity of a proper calibration of the raw polarisation data is emphasised and methods of the determination and subtraction of instrumental polarisation are considered. We also present a few examples of high-precision measurements of optical polarisation of black hole X-ray binaries and massive binary stars made with our DiPol-2 polarimeter, which allowed us to constrain the sources of optical emission in black hole X-ray binaries and measure orbital parameters of massive stellar binaries.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The terms optical light or optical wavelengths are usually understood as the wavelength range from 300 to 1000 nm. This is the range covered with the widely used UBVRI Johnson/Cousins photometric systems.

  2. 2.

    http://www.telescope.livjm.ac.uk/TelInst/RINGO3/.

  3. 3.

    http://www.eso.org/sci/facilities/paranal/instruments/fors/doc/VLT-MAN-ESO-13100-1543_v83.pdf.

  4. 4.

    http://www.eso/org/sci/facilities/paranal/instruments/fors/inst/pola.html.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge support from the ERC Advanced Grant HotMol ERC-2011-AdG-291659 (AVB). The DiPol-2 was built in cooperation between the University of Turku, Finland, and the Kiepenheuer Institut für Sonnenphysik, Germany, with support from the Leibniz Association grant SAW-2011-KIS-7.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    Andrei Berdyugin, Vilppu Piirola & Juri Poutanen

  2. Nordita, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Juri Poutanen

  3. Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    Juri Poutanen

Authors
  1. Andrei Berdyugin
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  2. Vilppu Piirola
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  3. Juri Poutanen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrei Berdyugin .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. INAF/IASF - Milan, Milan, Italy

    Roberto Mignani

  2. School of Physics, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland

    Andrew Shearer

  3. Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Informatics, Center for Astronomy, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland

    Agnieszka Słowikowska

  4. Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, UK

    Silvia Zane

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Berdyugin, A., Piirola, V., Poutanen, J. (2019). Optical Polarimetry: Methods, Instruments and Calibration Techniques. In: Mignani, R., Shearer, A., Słowikowska, A., Zane, S. (eds) Astronomical Polarisation from the Infrared to Gamma Rays. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 460. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19715-5_3

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