Development of simultaneous imaging polarimeter for asteroids

We are currently developing a polarimeter to study surface physical properties of asteroids. To enhance polarimetric accuracy and observational efficiency, we newly devised the polarimeter whose measurements can provide the two Stokes parameters Q and U, simultaneously. The test-observations of the prototype polarimeter have been carried out in December 2003 and January 2004, mounted on the 101 cm telescope at Bisei Astronomical Observatory, Okayama, Japan. In the observations, unpolarized and polarized standard stars were observed to measure an instrumental polarization and its uncertainty. As a result, an instrumental polarization of 5.06 ± 0.18% has been measured.