Design of TFOSC compatible optic polarimeter for polarimetric observations of asteroids

Investigation and determination of physical parameters (albedo, taxonomy, diameter, porosity, etc.) of Near Earth Object (NEO) have great importance for Earth life and new mineral resources (space mining) in near future. In this regard, integration of ground-based observations of astrophysical sources with astrophysical space programs (such as GAIA and Spectrum-X-Gamma programs) is required. TUBITAK National Observatory is the representative of Turkey in through this mission. The largest telescope used in TUBITAK National Observatory is RTT150 and TFOSC (("TUG" Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera) is one of its main focal plane instruments. TFOSC integrated polarimeter will strengthen of the hand of TUBITAK in aforementioned common programs. With this study it is aimed to gain talent to TUG. Lots of observatories around the world use WeDoWo (Wedge Double Wollaston) type polarimeters for the polarization ratio calculation of light from celestial objects. Instrumental and systematic errors of designed polarimeter were determined by observing both polarized and unpolarized standard stars. As a result of these observations, error of polarization rate as 0,2% and error of polarization angle as 1,9 (degree) have been obtained. Transmission parameters of the designed optical system, (t), has been determined as 0,5 which about ideal value. In the first part of the thesis; General description of the polarization, historical developments, application area in astronomy and polarimeters in observatories of worldwide, in the second part; mathematical definition of polarization and polarization of asteroids, in the third part; optical design of the system with ZEMAX, in the fourth part; general information about used equipment, optical and mechanical limits of the current system, calibration and error analysis, and in the fifth part; the results were discussed.