General data
The general goal of this project is to determine and characterize the spatial and spectral variations in the temperature and polarisation of the Cosmic Microwave Background in angular scales from several arcminutes to several degrees. The primordial matter density fluctuations which originated the structure in the matter distribution of the present Universe, left imprinted inhomogeneities in the CMB temperature distribution, that are mathematically encoded in the so-called angular power spectrum. Initially, pioneering experiments like the COBE satellite (whose results deserved the Nobel Prize on Physics 2006) or the Tenerife CMB experiment demonstrated in the 90s that the level of anisotropy was about one part in a hundred thousands at angular scales of several degrees. Obtaining CMB maps at various frequencies with sufficient sensitivity to detect structures at this level is of fundamental importance to extract information on the power spectrum of primordial density fluctuations, to prove the existence of an inflationary period in the Early Universe and to establish the ultimate nature of the dark matter and dark energy. Recently, the WMAP satellite obtained CMB maps with unprecedented sensitivity that allowed to set restrictions on a large number of cosmological parameters.
The focus of this project is to undertake measurements at gradually higher angular resolutions and sensitivities, by using different experiments that have been operative from the Teide Observatory, like the Tenerife experiment, the IAC-Bartol experiment or the JBO-IAC interferometer. More recently, the Very Small Array interferometer performed observations between 1999 and 2008. At that time the COSMOSOMAS experiment was also operative, its goal having been not only the characterization of the primary CMB anisotropies but also the study and characterization of the Galactic foreground contamination. In more recent years the activity in this project has focused in the scientific exploitation of data from the Planck satellite, and in the development, operation and exploitation of the QUIJOTE experiment. Now that the Planck mission has been completed and finished, the activity is focused in the scientific exploitation of QUIJOTE, in the development of new instrumentation for QUIJOTE, and in in the development of new experiments that are being deployed or that will be deployed at the Teide Observatory: GroundBRID, STRIP, KISS and TMS.
Members of the project
Highlights and results
- 6-7 june: XV QUIJOTE Scientific Meeting (IFCA, Santander)
- July: publication of the final results (12 articles) and data from the Planck satellite.
- 15-19 october: "CMB foregrounds for B-mode studies" conference, organised within the Radioforegrounds proyect, IV AME workshop, and XVI QUIJOTE Scientific Meeting (all these eventes were celebrated at the IAC)
- October: installation of the dome of the GroundBIRD experiment, at the Teide Observatory.
- December: aceptation of the third QUIJOTE scientific article (Poidevin et al. 2019)
Scientific activity
Publications related
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Planck early results. XXVI. Detection with Planck and confirmation by XMM-Newton of PLCK G266.6-27.3, an exceptionally X-ray luminous and massive galaxy cluster at z ~ 1
We present first results on PLCKG266.6-27.3, a galaxy cluster candidate detected at a signal-to-noise ratio of 5 in the Planck All Sky survey. An XMM-Newton validation observation has allowed us to confirm that the candidate isa bona fide galaxy cluster. With these X-ray data we measure an accurate redshift, z = 0.94 ± 0.02, and estimate the
Planck Collaboration et al.Advertised on:
122011Bibcode -
Planck early results. XV. Spectral energy distributions and radio continuum spectra of northern extragalactic radio sources
Spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and radio continuum spectra are presented for a northern sample of 104 extragalactic radio sources, based on the Planck Early Release Compact Source Catalogue (ERCSC) and simultaneous multifrequency data. The nine Planck frequencies, from 30 to 857 GHz, are complemented by a set of simultaneous observations
Planck Collaboration et al.Advertised on:
122011Bibcode -
Planck early results. VII. The Early Release Compact Source Catalogue
A brief description of the methodology of construction, contents and usage of the Planck Early Release Compact Source Catalogue (ERCSC), including the Early Cold Cores (ECC) and the Early Sunyaev-Zeldovich (ESZ) cluster catalogue is provided. The catalogue is based on data that consist of mapping the entire sky once and 60% of the sky a second time
Planck Collaboration et al.Advertised on:
122011Bibcode
Talks related
No related talks were found.Conferences related
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XIX Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics "The Cosmic Microwave | Background: from quantum fluctuations to the present Universe"Tenerife, Canary IslandsSpainDate-Past

IAC participation in the HERSCHEL AND PLANCK SURVEYOR space missions. Since 1996 the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias has been a contributor to the concept and development processes for the scientific payload of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Herschel Space Observatory and Planck Surveyor missions.