It is well known that underwater objects become more readily visible when viewed through a vertical polarizer that suppresses horizontally polarized reflections from the air-water interface. However, quantitative measurements of the contrast enhancement achieved with a polarizer do not seem to have been reported in the literature. To measure the polarization-enabled contrast enhancement, we placed white and black tiles next to each other, immersed in water, then measured the optical contrast between them as a function of viewing angle (relative to the surface normal) with a polarization camera that simultaneously recorded images with linear polarization oriented 0°, 90°, and 45°from horizontal. Images were recorded with an RGB polarization camera through approximately 45 cm of water at Bozeman Pond and with a monochrome polarization camera through approximately 5 cm of water at Bozeman Beach. Images also were recorded with the monochrome camera and a filter to isolate the near infrared band of approximately 750 to 1000 nm. Indoor laboratory measurements also were recorded to verify the role of the color of the reflecting background. All experiments used carefully calibrated division-of-focal-plane polarization cameras. The observed contrast decreased with viewing angle, but less so for the vertically polarized images. The contrast enhancement, represented by the ratio of vertically polarized to unpolarized contrast, increased with viewing angle, even past the Brewster angle (approx. 53°). The contrast enhancement only began decreasing for viewing angles larger than 70°. In outdoor experiments with a mostly clear sky, the highest contrast enhancement was in the blue spectral band. The contrast was essentially the same for red, green, and blue bands with a white background. In all measurements, the black tile exhibited much larger degree of linear polarization, which is an example of the Umov effect. In this paper we describe the experiments, show and explain polarization images, and show and explain plots of contrast and contrast enhancement as a function of viewing angle.
The Polstar Mission uses time domain FUV and NUV spectropolarimetric observations to provide insight into how our galaxy became able to support a solar system like ours. Polstar will study the evolution of massive stars, including the inter-stellar dust and gas that they interact with and the dynamics of protoplanetary disks and lower resolution near UV (180nm – 320 nm) to study interstellar reddening mechanism. Polstar will simultaneously measure at high spectral resolving power all four Stokes parameters (I, Q, U, V)T to high accuracy (0.001) with a precision better than 0.0001 using an instrument comprising a modulator with rotating MgF2 retarders and a fixed MgF2 Wollaston prism analyzer that concurrently measures the two orthogonal polarizations of the retarder modulated signal at six optimized rotational angles on a common detector. The output of the Wollaston prism either directly enters an echelle spectrograph, which provides spectral resolution of ~30K with a wavelength range from 122 nm to 200 nm, or is reflected to a prism spectrograph, which provides spectral resolution ranging from 140– 4000 with a wavelength range from 180 nm to 320 nm. In this paper we outline the instrument calibration approach to obtain the Mueller matrices over the full wavelength range that permit us to determine the Stokes parameters, and to spectrally calibrate the instrument. We also describe the ground support equipment for calibration.
The Polstar Mission seeks to study the evolution of massive stars including their effect on the interstellar medium and their behavior in binary systems using a 60 cm telescope with a UV Spectropolarimeter within MIDEX mission constraints on cost cap, throughput, coating requirements, and system-level dimensional stability. The mission is in a high-earth orbit and must ensure precise and repeatable polarimetric observations. Design-to-cost paradigms are exercised throughout all design phases and heritage approaches to structure and mirrors are evoked. In terms of classical error budgets, designing for diffraction-limited performance at 1.2 μm is sufficient, however, there are special design concerns at these wavelengths which require maximizing throughput of photons. Special coatings and minimum reflections are mandatory with meticulous attention to cleanliness throughout the entire mission life cycle. Decontamination heaters must be employed shortly after launch, prior to opening the door, and periodically throughout the mission lifetime. Additionally, spectropolarimetry requirements impose constraints on symmetry and control of phase and amplitude. The secondary mirror must have adjustment capability in three degrees of freedom (tip, tilt, and focus) to address drifts from thermal perturbations, aging, and possibly even spacecraft jitter. We present in-process design approach and analyses to meet the challenges of ultraviolet wavelengths and polarization stability..
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