SouthPol

The goal of the SouthPol project is to produce an optical polarimetric survey of the Southern Hemisphere. 

The main Scientific Objectives are to understand the role of magnetic fields in physical processes in the Milky Way, such as star formation, Galactic dynamics and cloud energy budgets. In order to achieve this, the aim is to characterize the Galactic magnetic field in three spatial dimensions, and to determine the distribution, composition and polarizability of Galactic dust. Additional science objectives include foreground characterization for Cosmic Microwave Background observations, and the role of magnetic fields in various systems, e.g. the Magellanic system, the Local Bubble, and circumstellar environments.

The survey is going to be conducted at the Observatório do Pico dos Dias using a new 1-m equatorial telescope, whose building is currently under construction. A new large field-of-view polarimeter - based on the successful IAGPOL polarimeter - is under development.

Institutions:

• Department of Astronomy at Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas (IAG) at University of São Paulo (USP) - Brazil;

• National Laboratory for Astrophysics (LNA) - Brazil;

• Department of Astrophysics at Radboud University - the Netherlands;

• Astrophysics Division at National Institute for Space Research (INPE) - Brazil;

• the Hiroshima Astrophysical Science Center at Hiroshima University - Japan; 

• Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) - Brazil;

• Mitsubishi Foundation - Japan; 

• the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at University of Tokyo - Japan;

• Chalmers University of Technology - Sweden.

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Updated: 2026 Aug 18