The Prototype of the Small Synoptic Second Solar Spectrum Telescope (S5T)

TL;DR

The paper introduces the design and initial prototype of a compact solar telescope capable of daily, high-sensitivity measurements of the Sun's scattering polarization signals to study magnetic fields and solar dynamo processes.

Contribution

It presents a novel, compact telescope design with a radial polarization converter enabling one-shot polarimetry, demonstrating feasibility through initial prototype results.

Findings

Achieved polarimetric sensitivity of ~10^-5

Successfully demonstrated the prototype's measurement capabilities

Validated the compact design and polarization measurement approach

Abstract

We present the design and the prototype of the Small Synoptic Second Solar Spectrum Telescope (S5T), which can autonomously measure scattering polarization signals on a daily basis with large sensitivity and accuracy. Its data will be used to investigate the nature of weak, turbulent magnetic fields through the Hanle effect in many lines. Also the relation between those fields and the global solar dynamo can be revealed by spanning the observations over a significant fraction of a solar cycle. The compact instrument concept is enabled by a radial polarization converter that allows for ``one-shot'' polarimetry over the entire limb of the Sun. A polarimetric sensitivity of ~10^-5 is achieved by minimizing the instrumental polarization and by FLC modulation in combination with a fast line-scan camera in the fiber-fed spectrograph. The first prototype results successfully show the feasibility of the concept.