Hiroshima One-shot Wide-field Polarimeter
HOWPol
HOWPol (Hiroshima One-shot Wide-field Polarimeter) is an optical imaging polarimeter dedicated for observations of prompt optical emission of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) at `Kanata' 1.5-m telescope, Higashi-Hiroshima Observatory, Hiroshima Astrophysical Science Center, Hiroshima University. It provides four linearly polarized images at position angles of 0, 45, 90 and 135 degs simultaneously, and enables us to obtain all Stokes parameters of linear polarization (I, Q, U) from only an exposure.
It has been developed since 2005 and experienced the first light in 2008 summar. The proper observation for GRBs will be started in 2008 November.