VSTPOL: making the VST a large survey telescope for optical polarimetry

P. Schipani; S. Covino; F. Snik; M. Colapietro; F. Perrotta; S. Savarese; S. Bagnulo; P. Bellutti; G. Capasso; E. Cappellaro; M. Cappi; G. Castignani; S. D'Orsi; J. Farinato; O. Hainaut; D. Hutsemekers; K. Kuijken; A. M. Magalhaes; D. Magrin; M. Marconi; L. Marty; F. Patat; E. Pian; F. Rigamonti; V. Ripepi; P. Rossettini; R. Z. Sanchez; A. Smette; P. Spanò; R. Tomelleri; G. Umbriaco; A. van Vorstenbosch; G. Verdoes-Kleijn

doi:10.1117/12.3019695

18 July 2024 VSTPOL: making the VST a large survey telescope for optical polarimetry

P. Schipani, S. Covino, F. Snik, M. Colapietro, F. Perrotta, S. Savarese, S. Bagnulo, P. Bellutti, G. Capasso, E. Cappellaro, M. Cappi, G. Castignani, S. D'Orsi, J. Farinato, O. Hainaut, D. Hutsemekers, K. Kuijken, A. M. Magalhaes, D. Magrin, M. Marconi, L. Marty, F. Patat, E. Pian, F. Rigamonti, V. Ripepi, P. Rossettini, R. Z. Sanchez, A. Smette, P. Spanò, R. Tomelleri, G. Umbriaco, A. van Vorstenbosch, G. Verdoes-Kleijn

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 13096, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy X; 130967L (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3019695
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2024, Yokohama, Japan

Conference Poster

Abstract

Since the start of operations in 2011, the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) has been one of the most efficient wide-field imagers in the optical bands. However, in the next years the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will be a game-changer in this field. Hence, the timing is appropriate for specializing the VST with additions that can make it unique in well-defined scientific cases. VSTPOL is a project that aims to provide the addition of wide-field polarimetric capabilities to the VST telescope, making it the first large survey telescope for linear optical polarimetry. Actually, while there are quite a number of optical telescopes, the telescopes providing polarimetric instrumentation are just a few. The number of relatively large mirror polarimetric telescopes is small, although they would be specifically needed e.g. to support many science cases of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) that, in the southern hemisphere, is co-located with the VST. The VST telescope is equipped with a single instrument, the OmegaCAM wide-field imaging camera operating in the visible bands with a field of view of 1° × 1°. The polarimetric mode will be implemented through the insertion of a large rotatable polarizer installed on the field-corrector optics, which will be exchangeable with the non-polarimetric corrector optics. The limiting polarimetric systematic errors due to variable atmospheric conditions and instrumental polarization can be corrected down to a level of ∼ 10⁻³ by leveraging the large amount of unpolarized stars within each field-of-view. By the user point of view, VSTPOL will be an additional mode for the VST wide-field imaging camera.

(2024) Published by SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

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P. Schipani, S. Covino, F. Snik, M. Colapietro, F. Perrotta, S. Savarese, S. Bagnulo, P. Bellutti, G. Capasso, E. Cappellaro, M. Cappi, G. Castignani, S. D'Orsi, J. Farinato, O. Hainaut, D. Hutsemekers, K. Kuijken, A. M. Magalhaes, D. Magrin, M. Marconi, L. Marty, F. Patat, E. Pian, F. Rigamonti, V. Ripepi, P. Rossettini, R. Z. Sanchez, A. Smette, P. Spanò, R. Tomelleri, G. Umbriaco, A. van Vorstenbosch, and G. Verdoes-Kleijn "VSTPOL: making the VST a large survey telescope for optical polarimetry", Proc. SPIE 13096, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy X, 130967L (18 July 2024); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3019695

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