SPIDER: a new balloon-borne experiment to measure CMB polarization on large angular scales

T. E. Montroy; P. A. R. Ade; R. Bihary; J. J. Bock; J. R. Bond; J. Brevick; C. R. Contaldi; B. P. Crill; A. Crites; O. Doré; L. Duband; S. R. Golwala; M. Halpern; G. Hilton; W. Holmes; V. V. Hristov; K. Irwin; W. C. Jones; C. L. Kuo; A. E. Lange; C. J. MacTavish; P. Mason; J. Mulder; C. B. Netterfield; E. Pascale; J. E. Ruhl; A. Trangsrud; C. Tucker; A. Turner; M. Viero

doi:10.1117/12.670339

12 July 2006 SPIDER: a new balloon-borne experiment to measure CMB polarization on large angular scales

T. E. Montroy, P. A. R. Ade, R. Bihary, J. J. Bock, J. R. Bond, J. Brevick, C. R. Contaldi, B. P. Crill, A. Crites, O. Doré, L. Duband, S. R. Golwala, M. Halpern, G. Hilton, W. Holmes, V. V. Hristov, K. Irwin, W. C. Jones, C. L. Kuo, A. E. Lange, C. J. MacTavish, P. Mason, J. Mulder, C. B. Netterfield, E. Pascale, J. E. Ruhl, A. Trangsrud, C. Tucker, A. Turner, M. Viero

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6267, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes; 62670R (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.670339
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2006, Orlando, Florida , United States

Abstract

We describe SPIDER, a novel balloon-borne experiment designed to measure the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) on large angular scales. The primary goal of SPIDER is to detect the faint signature of inflationary gravitational waves in the CMB polarization. The payload consists of six telescopes, each operating in a single frequency band and cooled to 4 K by a common LN/LHe cryostat. The primary optic for each telescope is a 25 cm diameter lens cooled to 4 K. Each telescope feeds an array of antenna coupled, polarization sensitive sub-Kelvin bolometers that covers a 20 degree diameter FOV with diffraction limited resolution. The six focal planes span 70 to 300 GHz in a manner optimized to separate polarized galactic emission from CMB polarization, and together contain over 2300 detectors. Polarization modulation is achieved by rotating a cryogenic half-wave plate in front of the primary optic of each telescope. The cryogenic system is designed for 30 days of operation. Observations will be conducted during the night portions of a mid-latitude, long duration balloon flight which will circumnavigate the globe from Australia. By spinning the payload at 1 rpm with the six telescopes fixed in elevation, SPIDER will map approximately half of the sky at each frequency on each night of the flight.

Citation Download Citation

T. E. Montroy, P. A. R. Ade, R. Bihary, J. J. Bock, J. R. Bond, J. Brevick, C. R. Contaldi, B. P. Crill, A. Crites, O. Doré, L. Duband, S. R. Golwala, M. Halpern, G. Hilton, W. Holmes, V. V. Hristov, K. Irwin, W. C. Jones, C. L. Kuo, A. E. Lange, C. J. MacTavish, P. Mason, J. Mulder, C. B. Netterfield, E. Pascale, J. E. Ruhl, A. Trangsrud, C. Tucker, A. Turner, and M. Viero "SPIDER: a new balloon-borne experiment to measure CMB polarization on large angular scales", Proc. SPIE 6267, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes, 62670R (12 July 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.670339

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available