A new two channel high-speed photo-polarimeter (HIPPO) for the SAAO

Stephen Potter; David Buckley; Darragh O'Donoghue; James O'Conner; Piet Fourie; Geoff Evans; Craig Sass; Lisa Crause; O. W. Butters; Andrew Norton; Koji Mukai; Martin Still

doi:10.1117/12.789716

11 July 2008 A new two channel high-speed photo-polarimeter (HIPPO) for the SAAO

Stephen Potter, David Buckley, Darragh O'Donoghue, James O'Conner, Piet Fourie, Geoff Evans, Craig Sass, Lisa Crause, O. W. Butters, Andrew Norton, Koji Mukai, Martin Still

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7014, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy II; 70145E (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.789716
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2008, Marseille, France

Abstract

We report on the completion of a new 2 channel, HIgh speed Photo-POlarimeter (HIPPO) for the 1.9m optical telescope of the South African Astronomical Observatory. The instrument makes use of rapidly counter-rotating (10Hz), super-achromatic half- and quarter-waveplates, a fixed Glan-Thompson beamsplitter and two photo-multiplier tubes that record the modulated O and E beams. Each modulated beam permits an independent measurement of the polarisation and therefore simultaneous 2 filter observations. All Stokes parameters are recorded every 0.1sec and photometry every 1 millisecond. Post-binning of data is possible in order to improve the signal. This is ideal for measuring e.g. the rapid variability of the optical polarisation from magnetic Cataclysmic Variable stars. First light was obtained in February 2008.

Citation Download Citation

Stephen Potter, David Buckley, Darragh O'Donoghue, James O'Conner, Piet Fourie, Geoff Evans, Craig Sass, Lisa Crause, O. W. Butters, Andrew Norton, Koji Mukai, and Martin Still "A new two channel high-speed photo-polarimeter (HIPPO) for the SAAO", Proc. SPIE 7014, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy II, 70145E (11 July 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.789716

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