LASP Science Seminars

Polarization observations provide a unique window into some of the most compelling problems in modern astrophysics — tracing magnetic fields and jet composition in AGN, assessing the degree of asymmetry in supernova explosions and characterizing their explosion mechanisms, probing interstellar dust and Galactic magnetic fields, characterizing circumstellar disk structure and composition, and offering a potential path to detecting ocean glint on directly imaged exoplanets.
Over the next five years, a strategically complementary set of facilities spanning UV SmallSats to giant segmented mirror telescopes will push polarimetry into new wavelength and sensitivity regimes. With the Roman Space Telescope gearing up for launch this fall, its coronagraph instrument will enable high-contrast polarimetry of circumstellar disks and reflected-light exoplanets; PUFFINS, a UV spectropolarimetry SmallSat recently selected as a NASA Astrophysics Pioneers mission, will close the critical gap in UV wavelength coverage and serve as a precursor to a spectropolarimetric instrument on the Habitable Worlds Observatory; and GMT-Pol on the Giant Magellan Telescope will bring the light-collecting power of a 25.4-meter aperture to enable high-resolution polarimetry of faint transients and other demanding science cases.
In this talk, I will present the science objectives, technical requirements, optical design, calibration challenges, and potential science targets for the Roman Coronagraph polarimetry mode, PUFFINS, and GMT-Pol, and discuss their status and the broader prospects for polarimetry over the next 5 years.