Commissioning of the Dual-Beam Imaging Polarimeter for the University of Hawaii 88 inch Telescope

October 2007 • 2007PASP..119.1126M

Authors • Masiero, Joseph • Hodapp, Klaus • Harrington, Dave • Lin, Haosheng

Abstract • In this paper we present the design, calibration method, and initial results of the Dual-Beam Imaging Polarimeter (DBIP). This new instrument is designed to measure the optical polarization properties of point sources, in particular, Main Belt asteroids. This instrument interfaces between the Tek 2048×2048 camera and the University of Hawaii's 88 inch telescope and is available for facility use. Using DBIP we are able to measure linear polarization with a 1 σ Poisson signal noise of 0.03% per measurement and a systematic error of order 0.06%+/-0.02%. In addition, we discuss measurements of the polarization of the asteroid 16 Psyche that were taken as part of the instrument commissioning. We confirm Psyche's negative polarization of -1.037%+/-0.006% but find no significant modulation of the signal with rotation above the 0.05% polarization level.

Links

• SIMBAD http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbo.pl?bibcode=2007PASP..119.1126M
• PDF https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/522379/pdf
• PREPRINT http://arxiv.org/abs/0708.1335
• ELECTR https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/522379