Abstract Details
| Name: Chaitanya Rajarshi Affiliation: IUCAA, Pune Conference ID: ASI2025_36 Title : Design, assembly, integration, and laboratory testing of the WALOP-South Polarimeter Authors and Co-Authors : Chaitanya Rajarshi 1, Siddharth Maharana 2, Pravin Khodade 1, Ramaprakash A. N. 1 Abstract Type : Poster Abstract Category : Facilities, Technologies and Data science Abstract : The Wide-Area Linear Optical Polarimeter (WALOP)-South is the first optical-wavelength polarimeter with wide-field and survey capabilities. Set for commissioning in early 2025, it will be installed on the 1-meter SAAO telescope at South Africa's Sutherland Observatory to conduct the PASIPHAE sky survey. The PASIPHAE initiative aims to produce the first polarimetric sky map in optical wavelengths, covering over 2,000 square degrees of the southern Galactic region. WALOP-South’s advanced design allows it to capture linear polarization (Stokes parameters q and u) in a single exposure, spanning a 35×35 arcminutes-squared field of view (FoV) with SDSS-r broadband and narrowband filters in the 500-750 nm range, and achieving a polarization accuracy of 0.1%. The instrument’s ambitious objectives demand stringent engineering standards, particularly in the optical, polarimetric, optomechanical, and electronic subsystems, all of which have been carefully engineered to meet specific performance requirements. By September 2024, all optical and mechanical subsystems had been assembled and were undergoing testing and integration, with full lab-based testing and characterization expected to conclude by November 2024. In this paper, we discuss (a) the design and development of WALOP-South and its key subsystems, with a special focus on the opto-mechanical design, which has not been previously detailed, and (b) the lab-based assembly, integration, and preliminary results from its characterization process. |