V. Natale

The Sky Polarization Observatory

Abstract The Sky Polarization Observatory (SPOrt) is an ASI-funded experiment specifically designed to measure the sky polarization at 22, 32 and 90 GHz, which was selected in 1997 by ESA to be flown on the International Space Station. Starting in 2006 and for at least 18 months, it will be taking direct and simultaneous measurements of the Stokes parameters Q and U at 660 sky pixels, with FWHM=7°. Due to development efforts over the past few years, the design specifications have been significantly improved with respect to the first proposal. Here we present an up-to-date description of the instrument, which now warrants a pixel sensitivity of 1.7 μK for the polarization of the cosmic background radiation, assuming two years of observations. We discuss SPOrt scientific goals in the light of WMAP results, in particular in connection with the emerging double-reionization cosmological scenario.

The power-law behaviours of angular spectra of polarized Galactic synchrotron

Abstract We study the angular power spectra of polarized Galactic synchrotron in the range 10≲l≤800, at several frequencies between 0.4 and 2.7 GHz and at several Galactic latitudes up to near the North Galactic Pole. Electric- and magnetic-parity polarization spectra are found to have slopes around αE,B=1.4–1.5 in the Parkes and Effelsberg Galactic-Plane surveys, but strong local fluctuations of αE,B are found at |b|≃10° from the 1.4 GHz Effelsberg survey. The CPIl spectrum, which is insensitive to the polarization direction, is somewhat steeper, being αPI=1.6–1.8 for the same surveys. The low-resolution multifrequency survey of Brouw and Spoelstra [A&AS 26 (1976) 129] shows some flattening of the spectra below 1 GHz, more intense for CE,Bl than for CPIl. In no case we find evidence for really steep spectra. The extrapolation to the cosmological window shows that at 90 GHz the detection of E-mode harmonics in the cosmic background radiation should not be disturbed by synchrotron, even around l≃10 for a reionization optical depth τri≳0.05.

Sardinia Radio Telescope: the new Italian project

This contribution gives a description of the Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT), a new general purpose, fully steerable antenna proposed by the Institute of Radio Astronomy (IRA) of the National Institute for Astrophysics. The radio telescope is under construction near Cagliari (Sardinia) and it will join the two existing antennas of Medicina (Bologna) and Noto (Siracusa) both operated by the IRA. With its large antenna size (64m diameter) and its active surface, SRT, capable of operations up to about 100GHz, will contribute significantly to VLBI networks and will represent a powerful single-dish radio telescope for many science fields. The radio telescope has a Gregorian optical configuration with a supplementary beam-waveguide (BWG), which provides additional focal points. The Gregorian surfaces are shaped to minimize the spill-over and the standing wave between secondary mirror and feed. After the start of the contract for the radio telescope structural and mechanical fabrication in 2003, in the present year the foundation construction will be completed. The schedule foresees the radio telescope inauguration in late 2006.

Status of the Sardinia Radio Telescope project

We present the status of the Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT) project, a new general purpose, fully steerable 64 m diameter parabolic radiotelescope capable to operate with high efficiency in the 0.3-116 GHz frequency range. The instrument is the result of a scientific and technical collaboration among three Structures of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF): the Institute of Radio Astronomy of Bologna, the Cagliari Astronomy Observatory (in Sardinia,) and the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory in Florence. Funding agencies are the Italian Ministry of Education and Scientific Research, the Sardinia Regional Government, and the Italian Space Agency (ASI,) that has recently rejoined the project. The telescope site is about 35 km North of Cagliari. The radio telescope has a shaped Gregorian optical configuration with a 7.9 m diameter secondary mirror and supplementary Beam-WaveGuide (BWG) mirrors. With four possible focal positions (primary, Gregorian, and two BWGs), SRT will be able to allocate up to 20 remotely controllable receivers. One of the most advanced technical features of the SRT is the active surface: the primary mirror will be composed by 1008 panels supported by electromechanical actuators digitally controlled to compensate for gravitational deformations. With the completion of the foundation on spring 2006 the SRT project entered its final construction phase. This paper reports on the latest advances on the SRT project.

A short-wavelength measurement of the cosmic background radiation anisotropy

The results of a measurement of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy at wavelengths between 0.4 and 2 mm, carried out using a balloon-borne 1.2 m telescope, are reported. A high Galactic latitude region about 15 deg wide with a 25 arcmin FWHM beam, switching in the sky with an amplitude of 108 arcmin, was observed. A sky signal correlated with the 100-micron diffuse emission mapped by the IRAS satellite was detected and used for calibration. After removal of this contribution, the residual intensity fluctuations give an upper limit to the anisotropy of the CMB at an equivalent frequency of 9.0/cm. 17 refs.

High stability and sensitivity correlation polarimeters for CMB polarization measurements

The measure of the faint polarized signal of the Cosmic Microwave Background (few percent of the CMB Anisotropy) requires instruments with very low contamination from systematic effects, high stability and high sensitivity. The BaR-SPOrt experiment, in sharing with the SPOrt project on ISS, is based on analog correlation receivers with components custom designed to match all of these requirements. Here we present the architecture, the design analysis and the status of the realization of the 32 GHz receiver.

The TIR project: A balloon telescope for the measurement of CBR anisotropies

We describe the TIR telescope: a 2.6 m telescope which can be carried to balloon altitude, to perform far infrared (FIR) and millimetric (mm) observations. The telescope has been optimized for the search of Cosmic Background Radiation (CBR) Anisotropies and of faint, diffuse mm and FIR sources. We illustrate the scientific problems which this system can deal with and the technical solutions which were considered during the project. Flight experience with a smaller (1.2 m) prototype (the ARGO 1989 telescope) is also described.

Multipole anisotropy of the cosmic background radiation in density wave models

We study the anisotropy of the cosmic background radiation predicted by the density-wave models at scales > or approx. =10/sup 0/ and establish the connection of the mulitpole moments of the wave pattern with the corresponding multipoles in the angular distribution of the radiation. In open spaces, mulitpoles of order l>2 are shown to be important for long-wavelength perturbations (for a reasonable mulitpole content in the wave pattern) and to dominate for wavelengths much larger than the particle horizon. The interpretation of available expeirmental data in terms of perturbations of the size of the particle horizon is discussed, and a sensitive test involving the gradient of the anisotropy is suggested.

Wideband spectrometer for HIFI-FIRST

The wideband acousto-optical spectrometer (WBS) for HIFI- FIRST is comprised of two array-AOS with 4 times 1 GHz bands each. There are some advantages to this design, the most important one is that relative frequency and amplitude variations between the 4 bands are rather unlikely. This is demonstrated by laboratory tests, which verify also that fairly slow beam-switching at 0.5 Hz may be a sufficient chop speed for HIFI. The performance of array-AOS has also been demonstrated during measurements at ground-based observatories. WBS consists of three independent units, one IF-, one optics-, and one electronics-unit. Some of the details of the WBS design are described, and the present performance estimates are given.

Far infrared multi-frequency observation of interstellar dust clouds

Abstract Diffuse interstellar dust emission at wavelengths between 0.5 and 2 mm has been detected by the ARGO 1993 balloon borne telescope. The instrument scanned the Galactic plane in Aquila and several cirrus clouds in Aries, Taurus and Hercules. The data are spatially consistent with the IRAS 100 μm sky maps, and the spectral behaviour is consistent with a single temperature thennal spectrum with Td ∼ 21 K and a spectral index of emissivity α ∼ 1.5.