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The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS)The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) is a four telescope array designed to characterize relic primordial gravitational waves from in ation and the optical depth to reionization through a measurement of the polarized cosmic microwave background (CMB) on the largest angular scales. The frequencies of the four CLASS telescopes, one at 38 GHz, two at 93 GHz, and one dichroic system at 145/217 GHz, are chosen to avoid spectral regions of high atmospheric emission and span the minimum of the polarized Galactic foregrounds: synchrotron emission at lower frequencies and dust emission at higher frequencies. Low-noise transition edge sensor detectors and a rapid front-end polarization modulator provide a unique combination of high sensitivity, stability, and control of systematics. The CLASS site, at 5200 m in the Chilean Atacama desert, allows for daily mapping of up to 70% of the sky and enables the characterization of CMB polarization at the largest angular scales. Using this combination of a broad frequency range, large sky coverage, control over systematics, and high sensitivity, CLASS will observe the reionization and recombination peaks of the CMB E- and B-mode power spectra. CLASS will make a cosmic variance limited measurement of the optical depth to reionization and will measure or place upper limits on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, r, down to a level of 0.01 (95% C.L.).
Document ID
20160010539
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Harrington, Kathleen
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Marriange, Tobias
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Aamir, Ali
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Appel, John W.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Bennett, Charles L.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Boone, Fletcher
(Michigan Univ. Ann Arbor, MI, United States)
Brewer, Michael
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Chan, Manwei
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Chuss, David T.
(Villanova Univ. PA, United States)
Colazo, Felipe
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Denis, Kevin
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Moseley, Samuel H.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Rostem, Karwan
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Wollack, Edward
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Date Acquired
August 23, 2016
Publication Date
July 19, 2016
Publication Information
Publication: Proc. of SPIE, Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy
Publisher: SPIE
Volume: 9914
ISSN: 0277-786X
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN35081
Meeting Information
Meeting: Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy
Location: Edinburgh
Country: United Kingdom
Start Date: June 26, 2016
End Date: July 1, 2016
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX14AB76A
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF 1429236
CONTRACT_GRANT: NX14AM49H
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF 0959349
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS)
reionization
primordial gravitational waves

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