Optical polarimetry: Methods, Instruments and Calibration Techniques

TL;DR

This paper reviews methods, instruments, and calibration techniques in optical astronomical polarimetry, highlighting their applications in studying black hole X-ray binaries and massive stellar binaries.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of optical polarimetry methods, instruments, and calibration techniques, including practical examples of high-precision measurements.

Findings

Optical polarimetry can constrain emission sources in black hole binaries.

Calibration techniques are crucial for high-precision polarization measurements.

Instrumental polarization can be effectively determined and subtracted.

Abstract

In this chapter we present a brief summary of methods, instruments and calibration techniques used in modern astronomical polarimetry in the optical wavelengths. We describe the properties of various polarization devices and detectors used for optical broadband, imaging and spectropolarimetry, and discuss their advantages and disadvantages. The necessity of a proper calibration of the raw polarization data is emphasized and methods of the determination and subtraction of instrumental polarization are considered. We also present a few examples of high-precision measurements of optical polarization of black hole X-ray binaries and massive binary stars made with our DiPol-2 polarimeter, which allowed us to constrain the sources of optical emission in black hole X-ray binaries and measure orbital parameters of massive stellar binaries.