Boomerang: A balloon-borne millimeter-wave telescope and total power receiver for mapping anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background

B. P. Crill, P. A.R. Ade, D. R. Artusa, R. S. Bhatia, J. J. Bock, A. Boscaleri, P. Cardoni, S. E. Church, K. Coble, P. De Bernardis, G. De Troia, P. Farese, K. M. Ganga, M. Giacometti, C. V. Haynes, E. Hivon, V. V. Hristov, A. Iacoangeli, W. C. Jones, A. E. LangeL. Martinis, S. Masi, P. V. Mason, P. D. Mauskopf, L. Miglio, T. Montroy, C. B. Netterfield, C. G. Paine, E. Pascale, F. Piacentini, G. Polenta, F. Pongetti, G. Romeo, J. E. Ruhl, F. Scaramuzzi, D. Sforna, A. D. Turner

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

70 Scopus citations

Abstract

We describe BOOMERANG, a balloon-borne microwave telescope designed to map the cosmic microwave background at a resolution of 10′ from the Long Duration Balloon (LDB) platform. The millimeter-wave receiver employs new technology in bolometers, readout electronics, cold reimaging optics, millimeter-wave filters, and cryogenics to obtain high sensitivity to cosmic microwave background anisotropy. Sixteen detectors observe in four spectral bands centered at 90, 150, 240, and 410 GHz. The wide frequency coverage, the long-duration flight, the optical design, and the observing strategy provide strong rejection of systematic effects. We report the flight performance of the instrument during a 10.5 day stratospheric balloon flight launched from McMurdo Station, Antarctica, that mapped ∼2000 square degrees of the sky.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)527-541
Number of pages15
JournalAstrophysical Journal, Supplement Series
Volume148
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2003
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Balloons
  • Cosmic microwave background
  • Instrumentation: miscellaneous

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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