HAWCPol: a first-generation far-infrared polarimeter for SOFIA

C. Darren Dowell; Brant T. Cook; D. Al Harper; Lung-Sheng Lin; Leslie W. Looney; Giles Novak; Ian Stephens; Marc Berthoud; David T. Chuss; Richard M. Crutcher; Jessie L. Dotson; Roger H. Hildebrand; Martin Houde; Terry J. Jones; Megan Krejny; Alexandre Lazarian; S. Harvey Moseley; Kostas Tassis; John E. Vaillancourt; Michael W. Werner

doi:10.1117/12.857842

20 July 2010 HAWCPol: a first-generation far-infrared polarimeter for SOFIA

C. Darren Dowell, Brant T. Cook, D. Al Harper, Lung-Sheng Lin, Leslie W. Looney, Giles Novak, Ian Stephens, Marc Berthoud, David T. Chuss, Richard M. Crutcher, Jessie L. Dotson, Roger H. Hildebrand, Martin Houde, Terry J. Jones, Megan Krejny, Alexandre Lazarian, S. Harvey Moseley, Kostas Tassis, John E. Vaillancourt, Michael W. Werner

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7735, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy III; 77356H (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.857842
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2010, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

We describe our ongoing project to build a far-infrared polarimeter for the HAWC instrument on SOFIA. Far-IR polarimetry reveals unique information about magnetic fields in dusty molecular clouds and is an important tool for understanding star formation and cloud evolution. SOFIA provides flexible access to the infrared as well as good sensitivity to and angular resolution of continuum emission from molecular clouds. We are making progress toward outfitting HAWC, a first-generation SOFIA camera, with a four-band polarimeter covering 50 to 220 microns wavelength. We have chosen a conservative design which uses quartz half-wave plates continuously rotating at ~0.5 Hz, ball bearing suspensions, fixed wire-grid polarizers, and cryogenic motors. Design challenges are to fit the polarimeter into a volume that did not originally envision one, to minimize the heating of the cryogenic optics, and to produce negligible interference in the detector system. Here we describe the performance of the polarimeter measured at cryogenic temperature as well as the basic method we intend for data analysis. We are on track for delivering this instrument early in the operating lifetime of SOFIA.

Citation Download Citation

C. Darren Dowell, Brant T. Cook, D. Al Harper, Lung-Sheng Lin, Leslie W. Looney, Giles Novak, Ian Stephens, Marc Berthoud, David T. Chuss, Richard M. Crutcher, Jessie L. Dotson, Roger H. Hildebrand, Martin Houde, Terry J. Jones, Megan Krejny, Alexandre Lazarian, S. Harvey Moseley, Kostas Tassis, John E. Vaillancourt, and Michael W. Werner "HAWCPol: a first-generation far-infrared polarimeter for SOFIA", Proc. SPIE 7735, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy III, 77356H (20 July 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.857842

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