Planck Surveyor Satellite

About the Project

* The Planck Satellite is scheduled for launch in 2008
* The Planck mission will collect and characterise radiation from the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) using sensitive radio receivers operating at extremely low temperatures.
* The telescope will map the sky in 8 wavebands in order to eliminate the many foreground emissions. The result will be an order of magnitude improvement over the WMAP observations.
* The questions that Planck will seek answers to include:
o What are the (more precise) values of fundamental cosmological parameters such as the Hubble constant?
o Can it be shown conclusively that the early Universe passed through an inflationary phase?
o What is the nature of the dark matter that dominates the present Universe?

Cavendish AP Group involvement

* The Group is a partner with the Institute of Astronomy in the Cambridge Planck Data Analysis Centre.
* The results will provide definitive values for the cosmological parameters and test thoroughly our understanding of the standard ΛCDM cosmological model.