A submillimetre imaging polarimeter at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope

A polarimeter has been built for use with the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array (SCUBA), on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) in Hawaii. SCUBA is the first of a new generation of highly sensitive submillimetre cameras, and the UK/Japan Polarimeter adds a polarimetric imaging/photometry capability in the wavelength range 350 to 2000 μm. Early science results range from measuring the synchrotron polarization of the black hole candidate Sgr A* to mapping magnetic fields inferred from polarized dust emission in Galactic star-forming clouds. We describe the instrument design, performance, observing techniques and data reduction processes, along with an assessment of the current and future scientific capability.

[1]  W. Holland,et al.  Submillimeter Polarimetry of Class 0 Protostars: Constraints on Magnetized Outflow Models , 1997 .

[2]  Kindler-Rohrborn,et al.  In press , 1994, Molecular carcinogenesis.

[3]  John E. Carlstrom,et al.  Interferometric Phase Correction Using 183 GHzGHz Water Vapor Monitors , 2001 .

[4]  Tim Jenness,et al.  Removing sky contributions from SCUBA data , 1998, Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation.

[5]  A. M. Flett,et al.  First results from a submillimetre polarimeter on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope , 1991 .

[6]  Stephen R. Platt,et al.  Polarization of far-infrared radiation from molecular clouds , 1989 .

[7]  E. I. Robson,et al.  A Millimetre/Submillimetre Polarization Survey of Compact Flat-Spectrum Radio Sources , 1997, astro-ph/9712219.

[8]  Tim Jenness,et al.  Towards the automated reduction and calibration of SCUBA data from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope , 2002 .

[9]  T. Jenness,et al.  Magnetic field surrounding the starburst nucleus of the galaxy M82 from polarized dust emission , 2000, Nature.

[10]  Robert W. Leach,et al.  MILLIPOL, A MILLIMETER/SUBMILLIMETER WAVELENGTH POLARIMETER: INSTRUMENT, OPERATION, AND CALIBRATION , 1990 .

[11]  A. Goodman,et al.  The Polarizing Power of the Interstellar Medium in Taurus , 1998, astro-ph/9803199.

[12]  T. Henning,et al.  Measurements of the Magnetic Field Geometry and Strength in Bok Globules , 2001 .

[13]  Holland,et al.  Detection of Polarized Millimeter and Submillimeter Emission from Sagittarius A* , 2000, The Astrophysical journal.

[14]  Observations of the polarized emission of Taurus A, CAS A and Cygnus A at 9-mm wavelength , 1979 .

[15]  G. A. Croes,et al.  FITS++: An Object-Oriented Set of C++ Classes to Support FITS , 1997 .

[16]  D. A. Schleuning,et al.  Far-infrared and Submillimeter Polarization of OMC-1: Evidence for Magnetically Regulated Star Formation , 1997 .

[17]  D. Ward-Thompson,et al.  First Observations of the Magnetic Field Geometry in Prestellar Cores , 2000 .

[18]  James M. Stone,et al.  Density, Velocity, and Magnetic Field Structure in Turbulent Molecular Cloud Models , 2000, astro-ph/0008454.

[19]  F. Melia,et al.  Polarimetric Imaging of the Massive Black Hole at the Galactic Center , 2001, astro-ph/0106180.

[20]  J. Fiege,et al.  Polarized Submillimeter Emission from Filamentary Molecular Clouds , 2000, astro-ph/0005363.

[21]  Jun-Ichi Morino,et al.  First Detection of Submillimeter Polarization from T Tauri Stars , 1999 .

[22]  D. Clemens,et al.  Magnetic Fields in Massive Cloud Cores: Comparison of MILLIPOL and IRAS Results , 1993 .

[23]  C. D. Wilson,et al.  MAGNETIC FIELDS IN STAR-FORMING MOLECULAR CLOUDS. II. THE DEPOLARIZATION EFFECT IN THE OMC-3 FILAMENT OF ORION A , 2001 .

[24]  P. Barthel,et al.  FAR INFRARED AND SUBMILLIMETRE UNIVERSE , 1997 .

[25]  Jessie L. Dotson,et al.  The Far-Infrared Polarization Spectrum: First Results and Analysis , 1999 .

[26]  B. Wilson.  Magnetic Fields in Star-forming Molecular Clouds. V. Submillimeter Polarization of the Barnard 1 Dark Cloud , 2002, astro-ph/0205328.

[27]  Jessie L. Dotson,et al.  Far-Infrared Polarimetry of Galactic Clouds from the Kuiper Airborne Observatory , 2000 .

[28]  Christine D. Wilson,et al.  Magnetic Fields in Star-forming Molecular Clouds. I. The First Polarimetry of OMC-3 in Orion A , 1999, astro-ph/9911148.

[29]  E. Young,et al.  Magnetic Fields in Star Formation Regions: 1.3 Millimeter Continuum Polarimetry , 1999 .

[30]  J. Dotson,et al.  Probing the Magnetic Field Structure in the W3 Molecular Cloud , 2000 .

[31]  Peter A. R. Ade,et al.  American Astronomical Society Meeting , 2004 .

[32]  Davis,et al.  Submillimeter Polarimetry of the Protostellar Outflow Sources in Serpens with the Submillimeter Common-User Bolometer Array. , 2000, The Astrophysical journal.

[33]  Hilo,et al.  SCUBA: A Common - user submillimetre camera operating on the James Clerk Maxwell telescope , 1998, astro-ph/9809122.

[34]  Wolfgang Wild,et al.  Imaging at Radio through Submillimeter Wavelengths , 2000 .

[35]  Jessie L. Dotson,et al.  A Primer on Far‐Infrared Polarimetry , 2000 .

[36]  Jessie L. Dotson,et al.  Submillimeter Array Polarimetry with Hertz , 1998 .

[37]  P. Bastien,et al.  Highly Polarized Thermal Dust Emission in the Bok Globule CB 068 , 2000 .

[38]  F. Melia,et al.  Spin-induced Disk Precession in the Supermassive Black Hole at the Galactic Center , 2002, astro-ph/0205487.

[39]  B. Krauskopf,et al.  Proc of SPIE , 2003 .