NARVAL
the ESPaDOnS twin spectropolarimeter atop Pic du Midi

NARVAL is a new generation stellar spectropolarimeter copied from ESPaDOnS and adapted to the specifics of the 2m Telescope Bernard Lyot (TBL) atop Pic du Midi in southwest France. Constructed by the TBL team under supervision from the original ESPaDOnS team in Toulouse at Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), it was installed at TBL and commissionned in November 2006, and offered to the OPTICON community in early December 2006.

NARVAL@TBL is the only astronomical facility worldwide fully dedicated to stellar spectropolarimetry, and in particular to the study of stellar magnetic fields: it thus offers large amounts of observing time to the community and allows to undertake long-term monitoring and surveys of brighter targets. NARVAL/TBL also makes it possible to carry out coordinated observations with ESPaDOnS to ensure almost continuous monitoring of rotating and variable stars, thanks to the 160° shift in longitude between France and Hawaii: stars now never set on ESPaDOnS and NARVAL!