Imaging polarimetry of circumstellar environments. Science Results of ExPo

Authors
Mr.
Héctor Canovas
Date and time
13 Jun 2011 - 00:00 Europe/London
Address

Aula

Talk language
English
Slides language
English
Serie number
1
Description

ExPo is an imaging polarimeter that has been built in Utrecht University. ExPo works in the visible, and it combines the dual-beam technique, together with very short exposure times and a high polarization sensitivity. After four successful campaigns at the William Herschel Telescope, we have obtained polarization images of circumstellar environments around T Tau's and Herbig Ae's stars, evolved (post-AGB) stars and planets like Venus and Saturn. Our results prove the utility of imaging polarimetry to characterize faint structures around very different objects. In this talk I will go through the instrument details, and I will show some of our science results.