SolarC, OFIS, Solar Spectropolarimetry

Today, I was mostly on SolarC, trying to learn how to use it. Interesting machine. It's an imaging-spectropolarimeter. A telescope makes an image on an array of optical fibers. The fibers are rearranged into a vertical line or "slit". This slit is then dispersed into a high-resolution spectrum. Liquid-crystal retarders just in front of the image do the polarization work. Neat huh?


Spectrograph!
Liquid crystals on the left, beam-splitter in the middle, fiber bundle on the right.