An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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An advanced stellar → spectropolarimeter designed and built at the Observatoire Midi-Pyréenées and installed at the → Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). It can obtain a a complete optical spectrum, from 370 nm to 1050 nm, in a single exposure. Among its characteristics: resolving power 65 000 to 80 000; 12% peak throughput (telescope and detector included); continuum subtracted linear and circular polarization spectra of the stellar light (in polarimetric mode). ESPaDOnS is used to study a broad range of important problems in stellar physics: from → stellar magnetic fields to → accretion disks and → extrasolar planets; from inhomogeneities and differential rotation on stellar surfaces to activity cycles and magnetic braking; from microscopic diffusion to turbulence, convection, and circulation in stellar interiors; from abundances and pulsations in stellar atmospheres to stellar winds; from the early phases of stellar formation to the late stages of stellar evolution; from extended circumstellar environments to distant interstellar medium (Donati et al., 2006, Solar Polarization, ASP Conf. Series, 358, 362, eds. R. Casini, B. W. Lites).

Short for Echelle Spectro-Polarimetric Device for the O bservation of Stars; → echelle; → spectro-; → polarimetric; → device; → observation; → star.