Abstract
The BLAST Observatory is a proposed super-pressure balloon-borne polarimeter designed for a future ultra- long duration balloon campaign from Wanaka, New Zealand. To maximize scientific output while staying within the stringent super-pressure weight envelope, BLAST will feature new 1.8m off-axis optical system contained within a lightweight monocoque structure gondola. The payload will incorporate a 300 L 4He cryogenic receiver which will cool 8,274 microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) to 100mK through the use of an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR) in combination with a 3He sorption refrigerator all backed by a liquid helium pumped pot operating at 2 K. The detector readout utilizes a new Xilinx RFSOC-based system which will run the next-generation of the BLAST-TNG KIDPy software. With this instrument we aim to answer outstanding questions about dust dynamics as well as provide community access to the polarized submillimeter sky made possible by high-altitude observing unrestricted by atmospheric transmission. The BLAST Observatory is designed for a minimum 31-day flight of which 70% will be dedicated to observations for BLAST scientific goals and the remaining 30% will be open to proposals from the wider astronomical community through a shared-risk proposals program.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | Ground-Based and Airborne Telescopes VIII |
Editors | Heather K. Marshall, Jason Spyromilio, Tomonori Usuda |
Publisher | SPIE |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781510636774 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2020 |
Event | Ground-Based and Airborne Telescopes VIII 2020 - Virtual, Online, United States Duration: Dec 14 2020 → Dec 22 2020 |
Publication series
Name | Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering |
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Volume | 11445 |
ISSN (Print) | 0277-786X |
ISSN (Electronic) | 1996-756X |
Conference
Conference | Ground-Based and Airborne Telescopes VIII 2020 |
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Country/Territory | United States |
City | Virtual, Online |
Period | 12/14/20 → 12/22/20 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Computer Science Applications
- Applied Mathematics
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering