The impol package consists of five tasks to reduce, simulate and plot
imaging linear polarimetry data taken with the HST instruments with
polarizing facilities - currently FOC, NICMOS and WFPC2. The tasks are
written to require minimum user interaction so that specialist knowledge is
not required to produce scientifically useful polarization results.
Starting from well-aligned input images, along with statistical error maps,
images of the total signal (Stokes parameter I), the normalized Stokes
parameters Q/I and U/I, the linear polarization and position angle of the
E vector and their propagated errors are produced.
Figure:
An example of the output from stecf.impol showing
polarization vectors plotted on an HST WFPC2 F673N filter image of
the Homunculus nebula surrounding
Carinæ.
Carinæ.