M. Bersanelli, A. Mennella, G. Morgante, M. Zannoni, G. Addamo, A. Baschirotto, P. Battaglia, A. Baù, B. Cappellini, F. Cavaliere, F. Cuttaia, F. Del Torto, S. Donzelli, Z. Farooqui, M. Frailis, C. Franceschet, E. Franceschi, T. Gaier, S. Galeotta, M. Gervasi, A. Gregorio, P. Kangaslahti, N. Krachmalnicoff, C. Lawrence, G. Maggio, R. Mainini, D. Maino, N. Mandolesi, B. Paroli, A. Passerini, O. Peverini, S. Poli, S. Ricciardi, M. Rossetti, M. Sandri, M. Seiffert, L. Stringhetti, A. Tartari, R. Tascone, D. Tavagnacco, L. Terenzi, M. Tomasi, E. Tommasi, F. Villa, Gi. Virone, A. Zacchei
We discuss the design and expected performance of STRIP (STRatospheric Italian Polarimeter), an array of coherent receivers designed to fly on board the LSPE (Large Scale Polarization Explorer) balloon experiment. The STRIP focal plane array comprises 49 elements in Q band and 7 elements in W-band using cryogenic HEMT low noise amplifiers and high performance waveguide components. In operation, the array will be cooled to 20 K and placed in the focal plane of a ~0.6 meter telescope providing an angular resolution of ~1.5 degrees. The LSPE experiment aims at large scale, high sensitivity measurements of CMB polarization, with multi-frequency deep measurements to optimize component separation. The STRIP Q-band channel is crucial to accurately measure and remove the synchrotron polarized component, while the W-band channel, together with a bolometric channel at the same frequency, provides a crucial cross-check for systematic effects.
The Euclid Near-Infrared Spectrometer (E-NIS) Instrument was conceived as the spectroscopic probe on-board the ESA
Dark Energy Mission Euclid. Together with the Euclid Imaging Channel (EIC) in its Visible (VIS) and Near Infrared
(NIP) declinations, NIS formed part of the Euclid Mission Concept derived in assessment phase and submitted to the
Cosmic Vision Down-selection process from which emerged selected and with extremely high ranking. The Definition
phase, started a few months ago, is currently examining a substantial re-arrangement of the payload configuration due to
technical and programmatic aspects. This paper presents the general lines of the assessment phase payload concept on
which the positive down-selection judgments have been based.
A. Mennella, B. Aja, E. Artal, M. Balasini, G. Baldan, P. Battaglia, T. Bernardino, M. Bersanelli, E. Blackhurst, L. Boschini, C. Burigana, R. Butler, B. Cappellini, F. Colombo, F. Cuttaia, O. D'Arcangelo, S. Donzelli, R. Davis, L. De La Fuente, F. Ferrari, L. Figini, S. Fogliani, C. Franceschet, E. Franceschi, T. Gaier, S. Galeotta, S. Garavaglia, A. Gregorio, M. Guerrini, R. Hoyland, N. Hughes, P. Jukkala, D. Kettle, M. Laaninen, P. Lapolla, D. Lawson, R. Leonardi, P. Leutenegger, G. Mari, P. Meinhold, M. Miccolis, D. Maino, M. Malaspina, N. Mandolesi, M. Maris, E. Martinez-Gonzalez, G. Morgante, L. Pagan, F. Pasian, P. Platania, M. Pecora, S. Pezzati, L. Popa, T. Poutanen, M. Pospieszalski, N. Roddis, M. Salmon, M. Sandri, R. Silvestri, A. Simonetto, C. Sozzi, L. Stringhetti, L. Terenzi, M. Tomasi, J. Tuovinen, L. Valenziano, J. Varis, F. Villa, A. Wilkinson, F. Winder, A. Zacchei
In this paper we present the test results of the qualification model (QM) of the LFI instrument, which is being
developed as part of the ESA Planck satellite. In particular we discuss the calibration plan which has defined
the main requirements of the radiometric tests and of the experimental setups. Then we describe how these
requirements have been implemented in the custom-developed cryo-facilities and present the main results. We
conclude with a discussion of the lessons learned for the testing of the LFI Flight Model (FM).
PLANCK is the space mission of the European Space Agency devoted to measure of the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the relic radiation left by the big bang.
The satellite will be launched in 2007 and it will carry state-of-the-art of microwave radiometers and bolometers arranged in two instruments, respectively the Low Frequency Instrument and the High Frequency Instrument, both coupled with a 1.5 m telescope and working in nine frequency channels between 30 and 857 GHz.
From the second Lagrangian point of the Sun-Earth system, the instruments will produce a survey that will cover the whole sky with unprecedented combination of sensitivity, angular resolution, and frequency coverage, and they will likely lead us to extract all the cosmological information encoded in the CMB temperature anisotropies.
The development strategy of PLANCK and the two instruments has been to set up a mission that inherently minimizes the systematic effects.
The optics, composed by an optimised telescope-feed array assembly, introduce unwanted systematic effects in the measurements like the so called external straylight due to the sidelobe pick-up.
A trade-off between angular resolution and external straylight has been carried out for LFI in order to reach the best optical performances preventing the Galactic contamination. The main product of the study has been the definition of the internal geometry of the flight model of the LFI feed horns and the characterization of the overall optical response of the instrument.
Thermal emission from all components of the spacecraft produces the so called internal straylight, that has been evaluated and controlled in the design phase.
In this paper we present the study carried out on the minimization of straylight contamination in PLANCK LFI.
PLANCK represents the third generation of mm-wave instruments designed for space observations of Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies within the new Cosmic Vision 2020 ESA Science Programme. The PLANCK survey will cover the whole sky with unprecedented sensitivity, angular resolution, and frequency coverage. The expected scientific return will be enormous, both for the cosmological constraints that will be set and for the gold mine of information contained in the astrophysical foregrounds. To reach these ambitious scientific goals, the control of systematic effects is mandatory and a careful instrument design is needed, as well as an accurate knowledge of instrumental characteristics. The Low Frequency Instrument (LFI), operating in the 30 ÷ 70 GHz range, is one of the two instruments onboard PLANCK Satellite, sharing the focal region of a 1.5 meter off-axis dual reflector telescope together with the High Frequency Instrument (HFI) operating at 100 ÷ 857 GHz. We present a detailed study carried out by the LFI team on the performances of the PLANCK telescope coupled with LFI feed horns, both in the main beam and in the sidelobe region.
The Low Frequency Instrument aboard the PLANCK satellite will employ pseudo-correlation radiometers, operating over three broad bands centred at 30, 44 ,and 70 GHz. The radiometer scheme is based on the simultaneous comparison of two input signals, one coming from the sky and the other coming from a reference blackbody at a stable cryogenic temperature (near 4K) as close as possible to the sky temperature (about 2.7K). This choice is made in order to minimize non-white instrumental noise, typically exhibiting a 1/f spectrum. Effects due to the residual offset are minimised with a gain modulation factor applied in software. Fluctuations of the reference signal, due to fluctuation in the cooling chain or to straylight radiation, can also produce a parasitic signal which would mimic a true sky fluctuation. The PLANCK scientific goal of a high precision imaging of the CMB anisotropy requires an accurate characterisation of each part constituting the chain by using tools of modellisation and experimental tests.
In this work we describe the concept of the radiometric chain, its functioning and the main sources of systematic errors, showing how, only with a hard modelling effort, it is possible to characterise, reduce and then remove in the data processing those systematic effects that may in principle compromise the quality of the whole instrument response.
KEYWORDS: Telescopes, Space telescopes, Spatial resolution, Mirrors, Reflectors, Microwave radiation, Radiometry, Anisotropy, Space operations, Control systems
The main scientific object of the Planck ESA (European Space Agency) mission is the imaging of the anisotropies of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) over the whole sky, with unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution. This target will be achieved by the synergic performance of the two instruments onboard: the High Frequency Instrument (HFI) and the Low Frequency Instrument (LFI). The first is composed of 48 bolometers observing in six spectral bands from 100 GHz to 857 GHz; the latter is an array of 46 radiometers covering four microwave bands from 30 to 100 GHz. A description of the Low Frequency Instrument, together with its characteristics and performance, is reported in this paper.
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