Abstract :
Optical polarimetry provides insights into the source of radiation that cannot be otherwise obtained using the other more popular techniques such as imaging, photometry or spectroscopy. In this talk, I shall describe the history of optical polarimetry at the facilities of the Physical Research Laboratory, India. The first optical polarimetry from India, of astronomical sources, were done using facilities built in-house by PRL. PRL's Photo-polarimeter was one of the first instruments to be built in the then newly established Astronomy & Astrophysics Division of PRL in the early 1980s. I shall describe some of the exciting results from this instrument and then how the instrument itself evolved over time - while still remaining a photo-polarimeter. PRL then built an imaging polarimeter for use with its 1.2m telescope and this has been in use for the last several years. Some of the interesting results in the subject of cometary, asteroidal and lunar polarimetry shall be discussed.
