CHEOPS/ZIMPOL: a VLT instrument study for the polarimetric search of scattered light from extrasolar planets

Daniel Gisler; Hans Martin Schmid; Christian Thalmann; Hans Peter Povel; Jan O. Stenflo; Franco Joos; Markus Feldt; Rainer Lenzen; Jaap Tinbergen; Raffaele Gratton; Remko Stuik; Daphne M. Stam; Wolfgang Brandner; Stefan Hippler; Massimo Turatto; R. Neuhauser; Carsten Dominik; Artie Hatzes; Thomas Henning; Jorge Lima; Andreas Quirrenbach; L.B.F.M. Waters; Gunther Wuchterl; Hans Zinnecker

doi:10.1117/12.550366

30 September 2004 CHEOPS/ZIMPOL: a VLT instrument study for the polarimetric search of scattered light from extrasolar planets

Daniel Gisler, Hans Martin Schmid, Christian Thalmann, Hans Peter Povel, Jan O. Stenflo, Franco Joos, Markus Feldt, Rainer Lenzen, Jaap Tinbergen, Raffaele Gratton, Remko Stuik, Daphne M. Stam, Wolfgang Brandner, Stefan Hippler, Massimo Turatto, R. Neuhauser, Carsten Dominik, Artie Hatzes, Thomas Henning, Jorge Lima, Andreas Quirrenbach, L.B.F.M. Waters, Gunther Wuchterl, Hans Zinnecker

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 5492, Ground-based Instrumentation for Astronomy; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.550366
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2004, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Abstract

We present results from a phase A study supported by ESO for a VLT instrument for the search and investigation of extrasolar planets. The envisaged CHEOPS (CHaracterizing Extrasolar planets by Opto-infrared Polarization and Spectroscopy) instrument consists of an extreme AO system, a spectroscopic integral field unit and an imaging polarimeter. This paper describes the conceptual design of the imaging polarimeter which is based on the ZIMPOL (Zurich IMaging POLarimeter) technique using a fast polarization modulator combined with a demodulating CCD camera. ZIMPOL is capable of detecting polarization signals on the order of p=0.001% as demonstrated in solar applications. We discuss the planned implementation of ZIMPOL within the CHEOPS instrument, in particular the design of the polarization modulator. Further we describe strategies to minimize the instrumental effects and to enhance the overall measuring efficiency in order to achieve the very demanding science goals.

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Daniel Gisler, Hans Martin Schmid, Christian Thalmann, Hans Peter Povel, Jan O. Stenflo, Franco Joos, Markus Feldt, Rainer Lenzen, Jaap Tinbergen, Raffaele Gratton, Remko Stuik, Daphne M. Stam, Wolfgang Brandner, Stefan Hippler, Massimo Turatto, R. Neuhauser, Carsten Dominik, Artie Hatzes, Thomas Henning, Jorge Lima, Andreas Quirrenbach, L.B.F.M. Waters, Gunther Wuchterl, and Hans Zinnecker "CHEOPS/ZIMPOL: a VLT instrument study for the polarimetric search of scattered light from extrasolar planets", Proc. SPIE 5492, Ground-based Instrumentation for Astronomy, (30 September 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.550366

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