Planck Low-Frequency Instrument: a study on the performances of the Planck millimeter space telescope coupled with LFI feed horns

摘要

PLANCK represents the third generation of mm-wave instruments designed for space observations of Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies within the new Cosmic Vision 2020 ESA Science Programme. The PLANCK survey will cover the whole sky with unprecedented sensitivity, angular resolution, and frequency coverage. The expected scientific return will be enormous, both for the cosmological constraints that will be set and for the gold mine of information contained in the astrophysical foregrounds. To reach these ambitious scientific goals, the control of systematic effects is mandatory and a careful instrument design is needed, as well as an accurate knowledge of instrumental characteristics. The Low Frequency Instrument (LFI), operating in the 30/70 GHz range, is one of the two instruments onboard PLANCK Satellite, sharing the focal region of a 1.5 meter off-axis dual reflector telescope together with the High Frequency Instrument (HFI) operating at 100/ 857 GHz. We present a detailed study carried out by the LFI team on the performances of the PLANCK telescope coupled with LFI feed horns, both in the main beam and in the sidelobe region.