Precision speckle interferometry with CMOS detector

TL;DR

This paper presents an upgrade to a speckle polarimeter using a CMOS detector, addressing optical distortions and noise factors to improve astrometric measurements of binary stars.

Contribution

The paper introduces a new CMOS-based speckle interferometer with correction methods for optical distortions and noise, enhancing measurement accuracy.

Findings

CMOS detector reduces readout noise compared to previous EMCCD.

Optical distortions from ADC are characterized and corrected.

Measurement precision of binary star parameters is improved.

Abstract

Speckle polarimeter (SPP) is a facility instrument of the 2.5-m telescope of the Caucasian Mountain Observatory of SAI MSU. By design it is a combination of a speckle interferometer and a dual--beam polarimeter. In 2022 we performed a major upgrade of the instrument. New version of the instrument features Hamamatsu ORCA-Quest qCMOS C15550-20UP, having subelectron readout noise, as a main detector, as opposed to EMCCD Andor iXon 897 used in previous version. Optical distortions present in the instrument are considered as they directly affect the accuracy of the speckle interferometric astrometric measurements of binary stars. We identified the Atmospheric Dispersion Compensator (ADC) as the main source of distortions which are not constant and depend on the rotational angles of ADCs prisms. Distortions are estimated using internal calibration light source and multiple binary stars measurements. Method for their correction is developed. Flux ratio estimates are subject to CMOS-specific negative factors: spatially correlated noise and flux-dependent pixel-to-pixel sensitivity difference. We suggest ways to mitigate these factors. The use of speckle transfer function measured using a reference star further improves flux ratio estimation performance. We discuss the precision of the estimates of position angle, separation and flux ratio of binary stars.