Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
1847079 Nuclear Physics B - Proceedings Supplements 2007 5 Pages PDF
Abstract

The Planck satellite is an ESA mission due to be launched in 2008. It will provide an essentially complete view of the CMB anisotropies limited only by the cosmic variance. The global parameters of the Universe will then be determined with a percent level precision. They include the geometry and evolution of the Universe as well as the relative proportion of the cosmic components, dark energy, dark matter, baryonic matter, neutrinos, photons… An accurate measurement of the polarization of these anisotropies should enable us to determine a precise reionization history as well as some constraints on the mass of neutrinos and on the primordial gravitational wave background, a telltale of the inflationary paradigm. Flight models of the two instruments (HFI and LFI) on board Planck are being actively calibrated on–ground before the final satellite integration at the end of 2006. Expected and measured performances are addressed. Efforts are pursued on the processing pipeline assembly. (see also http://www.rssd.esa.int/Planck)

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Physics and Astronomy Nuclear and High Energy Physics