<p>A polishing apparatus is provided with a stage (20) for holding a substrate (W); a stage rotating mechanism (40) for rotating the stage; a polishing head (42) for polishing the peripheral section of the substrate held by the stage; a control section (70) for controlling operation of the stage (20), the stage rotating mechanism (40) and the polishing head (42); an image acquiring section (61) for acquiring an image of the peripheral section of the substrate through at least one terminal imaging section (60) arranged to face the peripheral section of the substrate; an image processing section (62) for processing the image obtained from the image acquiring section; and a liquid jetting section (51) which jets a light transmissive liquid toward the peripheral section of the substrate and fills a space between the peripheral section of the substrate and the terminal imaging section with the liquid.</p>
