Anisotropy of the Cosmic Microwave Background

    General
    Description

    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.

    Principal investigator
    Project staff
    Collaborators
    Dr.
    Fernando Atrio Barandela
    Dr.
    Enrique Martínez González
    Dr.
    Carlos Hernández Monteagudo
    1. 6-7 june: XV QUIJOTE Scientific Meeting (IFCA, Santander)
    2. July: publication of the final results (12 articles) and data from the Planck satellite.
    3. 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)
    4. October: installation of the dome of the GroundBIRD experiment, at the Teide Observatory.
    5. December: aceptation of the third QUIJOTE scientific article (Poidevin et al. 2019)

    Related publications

    • Observations of the Corona Borealis supercluster with the superextended Very Small Array: further constraints on the nature of the non-Gaussian cosmic microwave background cold spot
      We present interferometric imaging at 33GHz, with the new superextended configuration of the Very Small Array (VSA), of a very deep decrement in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature. This decrement is located in the direction of the Corona Borealis supercluster, at a position with no known galaxy clusters, and was discovered by a
      Génova-Santos, Ricardo et al.

      Advertised on:

      12
      2008
      Citations
      16
    • Multifrequency spectral analysis of extragalactic radio sources in the 33-GHz VSA catalogue: sources with flattening and upturn spectrum
      We present an analysis of the spectral properties of the extragalactic radio sources in the nearly complete Very Small Array (VSA) sample at 33GHz. Data from different surveys are used to study source spectra between 1.4 and 33GHz. We find that, in general, spectra cannot be well described by a single power law in the range of frequencies
      Tucci, M. et al.

      Advertised on:

      5
      2008
      Citations
      14
    • Follow-up observations at 16 and 33GHz of extragalactic sources from WMAP 3-yr data: II - Flux density variability
      Using the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager (AMI) at 16GHz and the Very Small Array (VSA) at 33GHz to make follow-up observations of sources in the New Extragalactic WMAP Point Source catalogue, we have investigated the flux density variability in a complete sample of 97 sources over time-scales of a few months to ~1.5yr. We find that 53 per cent of the
      Franzen, Thomas M. O. et al.

      Advertised on:

      12
      2009
      Citations
      17
    • Follow-up observations at 16 and 33GHz of extragalactic sources from WMAP 3-yr data: I - Spectral properties
      We present follow-up observations of 97 point sources from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) 3-yr data, contained within the New Extragalactic WMAP Point Source catalogue between -4°
      Davies, Matthew L. et al.

      Advertised on:

      12
      2009
      Citations
      26
    • A study of the galaxy redshift distribution towards the cosmic microwave background cold spot in the Corona Borealis supercluster
      We present a study of the spatial and redshift distributions of Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) galaxies towards the position of CrB-H, a very deep and extended decrement in the cosmic microwave background (CMB), located within the Corona Borealis supercluster (CrB-SC). It was found in a survey with the Very Small Array (VSA) interferometer at 33
      Génova-Santos, R. et al.

      Advertised on:

      4
      2010
      Citations
      4
    • A 33-GHz Very Small Array survey of the Galactic plane from l = 27° to 46°
      The Very Small Array (VSA) has been used to survey the l ~ 27° to region of the Galactic plane at a resolution of 13arcmin. This l-range covers a section through the Local, Sagittarius and the Cetus spiral arms. The survey consists of 44 pointings of the VSA, each with an rms sensitivity of ~90mJybeam-1. These data are combined in a mosaic to
      Todorović, Magdolna et al.

      Advertised on:

      8
      2010
      Citations
      28
    • 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:

      12
      2011
      Citations
      75
    • Planck early results. XXV. Thermal dust in nearby molecular clouds
      Planck allows unbiased mapping of Galactic sub-millimetre and millimetre emission from the most diffuse regions to the densest parts of molecular clouds. We present an early analysis of the Taurus molecular complex, on line-of-sight-averaged data and without component separation. The emission spectrum measured by Planck and IRAS can be fitted pixel
      Planck Collaboration et al.

      Advertised on:

      12
      2011
      Citations
      204
    • Planck early results. XXIII. The first all-sky survey of Galactic cold clumps
      We present the statistical properties of the Cold Clump Catalogue of Planck Objects (C3PO), the first all-sky catalogue of cold objects, in terms of their spatial distribution, dust temperature, distance, mass, and morphology. We have combined Planck and IRAS data to extract 10342 cold sources that stand out against a warmer environment. The
      Planck Collaboration et al.

      Advertised on:

      12
      2011
      Citations
      174
    • Planck early results. XXII. The submillimetre properties of a sample of Galactic cold clumps
      We perform a detailed investigation of sources from the Cold Cores Catalogue of Planck Objects (C3PO). Our goal is to probe the reliability of the detections, validate the separation between warm and cold dust emission components, provide the first glimpse at the nature, internal morphology and physical characterictics of the Planck-detected
      Planck Collaboration et al.

      Advertised on:

      12
      2011
      Citations
      95
    • Planck early results. XXI. Properties of the interstellar medium in the Galactic plane
      Planck has observed the entire sky from 30 GHz to 857GHz. The observed foreground emission contains contributions from different phases of the interstellar medium (ISM). We have separated the observed Galactic emission into the different gaseous components (atomic, molecular and ionised) in each of a number of Galactocentric rings. This technique
      Planck Collaboration et al.

      Advertised on:

      12
      2011
      Citations
      127
    • Planck early results. XX. New light on anomalous microwave emission from spinning dust grains
      Anomalous microwave emission (AME) has been observed by numerous experiments in the frequency range ~10-60 GHz. Using Planck maps and multi-frequency ancillary data, we have constructed spectra for two known AME regions: the Perseus and ρ Ophiuchi molecular clouds. The spectra are well fitted by a combination of free-free radiation, cosmic
      Planck Collaboration et al.

      Advertised on:

      12
      2011
      Citations
      183
    • Planck early results. XVII. Origin of the submillimetre excess dust emission in the Magellanic Clouds
      The integrated spectral energy distributions (SED) of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) appear significantly flatter than expected from dust models based on their far-infrared and radio emission. The still unexplained origin of this millimetre excess is investigated here using the Planck data. The integrated SED of
      Planck Collaboration et al.

      Advertised on:

      12
      2011
      Citations
      138
    • Planck early results. XVI. The Planck view of nearby galaxies
      The all-sky coverage of the Planck Early Release Compact Source Catalogue (ERCSC) provides an unsurpassed survey of galaxies at submillimetre (submm) wavelengths, representing a major improvement in the numbers of galaxies detected, as well as the range of far-IR/submm wavelengths over which they have been observed. We here present the first
      Planck Collaboration et al.

      Advertised on:

      12
      2011
      Citations
      85
    • 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:

      12
      2011
      Citations
      105
    • Planck early results. XIV. ERCSC validation and extreme radio sources
      Planck's all-sky surveys at 30-857 GHz provide an unprecedented opportunity to follow the radio spectra of a large sample of extragalactic sources to frequencies 2-20 times higher than allowed by past, large-area, ground-based surveys. We combine the results of the Planck Early Release Compact Source Catalog (ERCSC) with quasi-simultaneous ground
      Planck Collaboration et al.

      Advertised on:

      12
      2011
      Citations
      66
    • Planck early results. XIII. Statistical properties of extragalactic radio sources in the Planck Early Release Compact Source Catalogue
      The data reported in Planck's Early Release Compact Source Catalogue (ERCSC) are exploited to measure the number counts (dN/dS) of extragalactic radio sources at 30, 44, 70, 100, 143 and 217 GHz. Due to the full-sky nature of the catalogue, this measurement extends to the rarest and brightest sources in the sky. At lower frequencies (30, 44, and 70
      Planck Collaboration et al.

      Advertised on:

      12
      2011
      Citations
      112
    • Planck early results. XII. Cluster Sunyaev-Zeldovich optical scaling relations
      We present the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) signal-to-richness scaling relation (Y500 - N200) for the MaxBCG cluster catalogue. Employing a multi-frequency matched filter on the Planck sky maps, we measure the SZ signal for each cluster by adapting the filter according to weak-lensing calibrated mass-richness relations (N200 - M500). We bin our
      Planck Collaboration et al.

      Advertised on:

      12
      2011
      Citations
      116
    • Planck early results. XI. Calibration of the local galaxy cluster Sunyaev-Zeldovich scaling relations
      We present precise Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect measurements in the direction of 62 nearby galaxy clusters (z 0.5) detected at high signal-to-noise in the first Planck all-sky data set. The sample spans approximately a decade in total mass, 2 × 1014 M&sun; M500 2 × 1015 M&sun;, where M500 is the mass corresponding to a total density contrast of
      Planck Collaboration et al.

      Advertised on:

      12
      2011
      Citations
      201
    • Planck early results. X. Statistical analysis of Sunyaev-Zeldovich scaling relations for X-ray galaxy clusters
      All-sky data from the Planck survey and the Meta-Catalogue of X-ray detected Clusters of galaxies (MCXC) are combined to investigate the relationship between the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) signal and X-ray luminosity. The sample comprises ~1600 X-ray clusters with redshifts up to ~1 and spans a wide range in X-ray luminosity. The SZ signal is
      Planck Collaboration et al.

      Advertised on:

      12
      2011
      Citations
      148

    Related talks

    No related talks were found.

    Related conferences

    • XIX Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics "The Cosmic Microwave | Background: from quantum fluctuations to the present Universe"
      Tenerife, Canary Islands
      Spain
      Date
      -
      Past
    Related projects
    Parte del equipo del IAC con el sistema de desarrollo del software de vuelo
    Herschel y Planck
    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.
    Jorge
    Casares Velázquez
    Ismael
    Pérez Fournon
    Rafael
    Rebolo López
    COSMOSOMAS
    COSMOSOMAS
    The COSMOSOMAS experiment was running for several years at the Observatorio del Teide, measuring fossil radiation of the universe arriving to the Earth in the form of microwaves.
    Rafael
    Rebolo López
    Polarímetro CMB instalado en Izaña
    Polarímetro CMB
    A Cosmic Microwave Background Polarimeter
    Rafael
    Rebolo López
    VSA Extension en el observatorio de Izaña
    VSA Extension
    Very Small Array Extension
    Rafael
    Rebolo López