Developing an Instrumental Polarization Characterization Routine for SCExAO VAMPIRES

Manxuan Zhang, Maxwell Millar-Blanchaer, Boris Safonov, Miles Lucas, Lucinda Lilley, Jaren Ashcraft, Barnaby Norris, Julien Lozi, Olivier Guyon, Michael Bottom, Peter Tuthill

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

The Visible Aperture Masking Polarimetric Imager for Resolved Exoplanetary Structures (VAMPIRES) is a visible light instrument on the Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics (SCExAO) system.In a previous work, the instrumental polarization (IP) and crosstalk of VAMPIRES was characterized from measurements with a polarized internal calibration source.In this work, we use unpolarized standard star observations to estimate the polarization of Subaru's Nasmyth mirror (M3) and use polarized standard star observations to quantify the overall system Mueller matrix model's accuracy.We present an instrument matrix inversion routine that has returned stable results for all tested on-sky sources.With the current 675nm Mueller matrix model of VAMPIRES, the median residuals when retrieving the on-sky degree of linear polarization (DoLP) and angle of linear polarization (AoLP) of three polarized standards were 0.27% and 3.57% respectively.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationGround-Based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy X
EditorsJulia J. Bryant, Kentaro Motohara, Joel R. Vernet
PublisherSPIE
ISBN (Electronic)9781510675155
DOIs
StatePublished - 2024
EventGround-Based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy X 2024 - Yokohama, Japan
Duration: Jun 16 2024Jun 21 2024

Publication series

NameProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume13096
ISSN (Print)0277-786X
ISSN (Electronic)1996-756X

Conference

ConferenceGround-Based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy X 2024
Country/TerritoryJapan
CityYokohama
Period6/16/246/21/24

Keywords

  • calibration
  • exoplanet polarimetry
  • high-contrast imaging
  • instrument matrix
  • Mueller matrix model
  • polarimetric accuracy
  • polarimetric imaging
  • SCExAO-VAMPIRES

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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