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PlanetPol

Summary

PlanetPol was a ground-based, high sensitivity polarimeter based at the William Herschel Telescope[1] on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain that has now been decommissioned. It was the most sensitive astronomical visual polarimeter ever built in fractional polarisation, a mantle that since its decommissioning now belongs to HIPPI. Although the device could be used for a wide range of astronomy, its primary use was the detection of extrasolar planets.[1]

The William Herschel Telescope building

Results edit

PlanetPol did not discover any extrasolar planets, however it was used to provide upper limits to planetary albedos in the known 55 Cnc and τ Boo planetary systems.[2] Observations with the polarimeter in the Canary Islands, which are affected by dust from the Sahara, also identified airborne dust as a source of polarization within our atmosphere.[3] Additionally, PlanetPol provided measurements of the polarization of a few dozen nearby stars,[4] which were later combined with southern hemisphere measurements from PlanetPol's successor, HIPPI,[5] to provide information about the nature of those stars and the distribution of the interstellar medium.[6]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Hough, J. H.; Lucas, P. W.; Bailey, J. A.; Tamura, M.; et al. (2006-09-01). "PlanetPol: A Very High Sensitivity Polarimeter". The Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 118 (847): 1302–1318. Bibcode:2006PASP..118.1302H. doi:10.1086/507955. Retrieved 2012-01-22.
  2. ^ Lucas, P. W.; Hough, J. H.; Bailey, J. A.; Tamura, M.; Hirst, E.; Harrison, D. (2009-02-11). "Planetpol polarimetry of the exoplanet systems 55 Cnc and τ Boo". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 393 (1): 229–244. arXiv:0807.2568. Bibcode:2009MNRAS.393..229L. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.14182.x. ISSN 0035-8711.
  3. ^ Bailey, Jeremy; Ulanowski, Z.; Lucas, P. W.; Hough, J. H.; Hirst, E.; Tamura, M. (May 2008). "The effect of airborne dust on astronomical polarization measurements". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 386 (2): 1016–1022. Bibcode:2008MNRAS.386.1016B. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13088.x. ISSN 0035-8711.
  4. ^ Bailey, Jeremy; Lucas, P. W.; Hough, J. H. (April 2010). "The linear polarization of nearby bright stars measured at the parts per million level". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 405 (4): 2570. arXiv:1003.1753. Bibcode:2010MNRAS.405.2570B. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.16634.x. ISSN 0035-8711. S2CID 16710999.
  5. ^ Bailey, Jeremy; Kedziora-Chudczer, Lucyna; Cotton, Daniel V.; Bott, Kimberly; Hough, J. H.; Lucas, P. W. (2015-04-08). "A high-sensitivity polarimeter using a ferro-electric liquid crystal modulator". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 449 (3): 3064–3073. arXiv:1503.02236. Bibcode:2015MNRAS.449.3064B. doi:10.1093/mnras/stv519. ISSN 1365-2966.
  6. ^ Cotton, Daniel V.; Bailey, Jeremy; Kedziora-Chudczer, Lucyna; Bott, Kimberly; Lucas, P. W.; Hough, J. H.; Marshall, Jonathan P. (2015-11-19). "The linear polarization of Southern bright stars measured at the parts-per-million level". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 455 (2): 1607–1628. arXiv:1509.07221. Bibcode:2016MNRAS.455.1607C. doi:10.1093/mnras/stv2185. ISSN 0035-8711.