Far sidelobe effects from panel gaps of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope

Pedro Antonio Fluxá Rojas, Rolando Dünner, Loïc Maurin, Steve K. Choi, Mark J. Devlin, Patricio A. Gallardo, Shuay Pwu P. Ho, Brian J. Koopman, Thibaut Louis, Jeffrey J. McMahon, Federico Nati, Michael D. Niemack, Laura Newburgh, Lyman A. Page, Maria Salatino, Alessandro Schillaci, Benjamin L. Schmitt, Sara M. Simon, Suzanne T. Staggs, Edward J. Wollack

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope is a 6 meter diameter CMB telescope located at 5200 meters in the Chilean desert. ACT has made arc-minute scale maps of the sky at 90 and 150 GHz which have led to precise measurements of the fine angular power spectrum of the CMB fluctuations in temperature and polarization. One of the goals of ACT is to search for the B-mode polarization signal from primordial gravity waves, and thus extending ACT's data analysis to larger angular scales. This goal introduces new challenges in the control of systematic effects, including better understanding of far sidelobe effects that might enter the power spectrum at degree angular scales. Here we study the effects of the gaps between panels of the ACT primary and secondary reflectors in the worst case scenario in which the gaps remain open. We produced numerical simulations of the optics using GRASP up to 8 degrees away from the main beam and simulated timestreams for observations with this beam using real pointing information from ACT data. Maps from these simulated timestreams showed leakage from the sidelobes, indicating that this effect must be taken into consideration at large angular scales.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationMillimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VIII
EditorsJonas Zmuidzinas, Wayne S. Holland
PublisherSPIE
ISBN (Electronic)9781510602076
DOIs
StatePublished - 2016
EventMillimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VIII - Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Duration: Jun 28 2016Jul 1 2016

Publication series

NameProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume9914
ISSN (Print)0277-786X
ISSN (Electronic)1996-756X

Other

OtherMillimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VIII
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityEdinburgh
Period6/28/167/1/16

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Keywords

  • B-modes
  • Cosmic Microwave Background
  • Cosmology
  • Diffraction
  • Electromagnetic simulations
  • Farsidelobes
  • Optical Simulations
  • Polarization

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