RoboPol: A four-channel optical imaging polarimeter

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A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä

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en

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12

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Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 485, issue 2, pp. 2355-2366

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We present the design and performance of RoboPol, a four-channel optical polarimeter operating at the Skinakas Observatory in Crete, Greece. RoboPol is capable of measuring both relative linear Stokes parameters q and u (and the total intensity I) in one sky exposure. Though primarily used to measure the polarization of point sources in the R band, the instrument features additional filters (B, V, and I), enabling multiwavelength imaging polarimetry over a large field of view (13.6 × 13.6). We demonstrate the accuracy and stability of the instrument throughout its 5 yr of operation. Best performance is achieved within the central region of the field of view and in the R band. For such measurements the systematic uncertainty is below 0.1 per cent in fractional linear polarization, p (0.05 per cent maximum likelihood). Throughout all observing seasons the instrumental polarization varies within 0.1 per cent in p and within ∼1◦ in polarization angle.

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Ramaprakash, A N, Rajarshi, C V, Das, H K, Khodade, P, Modi, D, Panopoulou, G, Maharana, S, Blinov, D, Angelakis, E, Casadio, C, Fuhrmann, L, Hovatta, T, Kiehlmann, S, King, O G, Kylafis, N, Kougentakis, A, Kus, A, Mahabal, A, Marecki, A, Myserlis, I, Paterakis, G, Paleologou, E, Liodakis, I, Papadakis, I, Papamastorakis, I, Pavlidou, V, Pazderski, E, Pearson, T J, Readhead, A C S, Reig, P, Słowikowska, A, Tassis, K & Zensus, J A 2019, 'RoboPol : A four-channel optical imaging polarimeter', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 485, no. 2, pp. 2355-2366. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz557