EPOL: the exoplanet polarimeter for EPICS at the E-ELT

Christoph U. Keller; Hans Martin Schmid; Lars B. Venema; Hiddo Hanenburg; Rieks Jager; Markus Kasper; Patrice Martinez; Florence Rigal; Michiel Rodenhuis; Ronald Roelfsema; Frans Snik; Christophe Verinaud; Natalia Yaitskova

doi:10.1117/12.857626

20 July 2010 EPOL: the exoplanet polarimeter for EPICS at the E-ELT

Christoph U. Keller, Hans Martin Schmid, Lars B. Venema, Hiddo Hanenburg, Rieks Jager, Markus Kasper, Patrice Martinez, Florence Rigal, Michiel Rodenhuis, Ronald Roelfsema, Frans Snik, Christophe Verinaud, Natalia Yaitskova

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7735, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy III; 77356G (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.857626
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2010, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

EPOL is the imaging polarimeter part of EPICS (Exoplanet Imaging Camera and Spectrograph) for the 42-m E-ELT. It is based on sensitive imaging polarimetry to differentiate between linearly polarized light from exoplanets and unpolarized, scattered starlight and to characterize properties of exoplanet atmospheres and surfaces that cannot be determined from intensity observations alone. EPOL consists of a coronagraph and a dual-beam polarimeter with a liquid-crystal retarder to exchange the polarization of the two beams. The polarimetry thereby increases the contrast between star and exoplanet by 3 to 5 orders of magnitude over what the extreme adaptive optics and the EPOL coronagraph alone can achieve. EPOL operates between 600 and 900 nm, can select more specific wavelength bands with filters and aims at having an integral field unit to obtain linearly polarized spectra of known exoplanets. We present the conceptual design of EPOL along with an analysis of its performance.

Citation Download Citation

Christoph U. Keller, Hans Martin Schmid, Lars B. Venema, Hiddo Hanenburg, Rieks Jager, Markus Kasper, Patrice Martinez, Florence Rigal, Michiel Rodenhuis, Ronald Roelfsema, Frans Snik, Christophe Verinaud, and Natalia Yaitskova "EPOL: the exoplanet polarimeter for EPICS at the E-ELT", Proc. SPIE 7735, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy III, 77356G (20 July 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.857626

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available