Issue |
Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser.
Volume 145, Number 2, August 2000
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | 323 - 340 | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/aas:2000245 | |
Published online | 15 August 2000 |
On the performance of Planck-like telescopes versus mirror aperture
1
Istituto TeSRE, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Gobetti 101, I-40129 Bologna, Italy
2
IFC, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Bassini 15, I-20133 Milano, Italy
3
ESO, European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild Str. 2, D-85748 Garching, Germany
4
CalTech, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, U.S.A.
5
SISSA, International School for Advanced Studies, Via Beirut 2-4, I-34014 Trieste, Italy
6
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
Send offprint request to: mandolesi@tesre.bo.cnr.it
Received:
29
December
1999
Accepted:
26
April
2000
Future space mission like MAP and Planck will be able to shade
new light on our knowledge of the Universe thanks to their
unprecedented angular resolution and sensitivity. The far
sub-degree angular resolution is obtained coupling usual
detectors, radiometers and/or bolometers, to an optical system,
namely a telescope. The wealth of cosmological information is
encoded at high values (
) which can be
reached with resolution of about 10′. Distortions of the main
beam resulting from the current focal plane arrangement and the
optical design of the Planck satellite will degrade angular
resolution and sensitivity per resolution element possibly
compromising the final results. The detailed design of the
Planck telescope is continuously changing with the aim of
optimizing its performance. In the present work we present a
methodological study on the relation between telescope optical
design, focal plane arrangement and optical performances,
focussing
on the dependence of angular resolution on primary mirror
aperture. Different independent approaches have been developed to
quantify the impact of main beam distortions on cosmic microwave
background (CMB) science yielding nearly the same results. The
so-called PHASE-A telescope is unacceptable with respect mission
main goals. Larger telescopes (namely with effective aperture ≳ 1.5 m) are therefore preferable. This paper is based on the Planck LFI activities.
Key words: cosmology: cosmic microwave background / methods: data analysis / telescopes
© European Southern Observatory (ESO), 2000