PolKa: a Polarimeter for Submillimeter Bolometer Arrays

Starting from measurements of the linear polarization of the radiation emitted by celestial objects it is possible to estimate some physical parameters of the source. For example, magnetic field intensities and directions or, when the magnetic field is already known, the processes producing the polarization. A new concept of polarimeter has been designed to be used together with the arrays of bolometers developed in the Bolometer Group at the Max-Planck-Institut fuer Radioastronomie in Bonn. The new polarimeter has the unique characteristic of being tunable over a wide range of wavelengths and of producing a negligible absorption. It has been used at the Heinrich Hertz telescope in Arizona, to measure the linear polarization of some quasars and of some extended sources inside our galaxy. Some results are presented. We detected polarization on the quasars 3C279 and 1633+382. On 3C279 we also detected polarization variability on a time scale of a week. Three maps of extended sources are presented: - the BN/KL complex in Orion OMC-1, - a filament cloud in Orion OMC-3 and - the massive star forming region IRAS 05358+3543. The first map shows the polarization pattern in OMC-1 over an extended sky area with high signal-to-noise and accurate detection of the position angle. The filament in OMC-3 was observed for a short integration time and is presented here only to show the agreement with published data even under conditions of a weak signal-to-noise. The third map is the first detection of polarization in the high-mass star forming region IRAS 05358+3543. The polarimeter has low spurious polarization and a good efficiency and the tests at the telescope show that it is well suited to become a permanent facility