Oxford Experimental Radio/mm Cosmology
CBI - The Cosmic Background Imager
The Cosmic
Background Imager (CBI) consists of 13 radio telescopes working
together to form an interferometer, and was designed to image and
measure the small variations in temperature in the cosmic microwave
background (CMB). The CBI is able to
measure both the temperature and polarization properties of the
CMB on angular scales from 5 arc minutes to one degree (spherical harmonic scales from l = 3000 down to l = 300).
CBI operates in the frequency range 26-36 GHz and is sited at 5080m
(~16700 feet) on the Llano
de Chajnantor in the Andes of northern Chile. The telescope is a
collaborative project being led by Caltech - for much more information
about the CBI and the fantastic results that it has produced, have a
look at the Official
CBI Webpage.
Research highlights with CBI:
- Measurement of the CMB power spectrum on angular scales from 5 arc
minutes to one degree (spherical harmonic scales from l = 3000 down to
l = 300).
- Detection of excess power in the CMB power spectrum at high l-values.
- Detection and measurement of the E-mode polarization of the CMB.
- Investigation of diffuse foregrounds.
- Physics of clusters of galaxies via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect.
*** CBI2 Upgrade ***
In 2006, the CBI was upgraded to CBI2. The original 0.9m dishes
were upgraded to 1.4m dishes each with a new foam cone supporting the
new secondaries. The array was re-configured to maximise the number of
long baselines. Since late 2006, CBI2 has been observing CMB fields,
SZ clusters and galactic foregrounds.
Have a look at the pictures in the links below to see the upgrade...
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