Selection of an Experimental Site in Colombia and Preliminary Measurements of the Sky Brightness and Polarization at Long Wavelengths

该奖项将支持加州大学伯克利分校空间科学小组的 George Smoot 和哥伦比亚波哥大安第斯大学天体物理学小组的 Sergio Torres 之间的合作。 该项目旨在与美国国家科学基金会支持的宇宙微波背景辐射（CMBR）低频测量项目一起研究大气条件和初步射电天文学测量。 通过观察 CMBR 的光谱分布，研究人员可以研究宇宙早期发生的过程，当时触发星系形成的机制必定在辐射中留下了印记。 来自赤道附近站点的数据将提供对银河平面的最大限度的观测。 该项目将绘制正交线性偏振的银河发射图，以便生成比目前更精确的地图。 除了获取银河强度数据外，研究人员还将选择未来偏振测量的地点，需要对不同地点采集的数据进行关联。 美国小组开发了用于该项目的 CMBR 测量的辐射技术。 哥伦比亚集团将为哥伦比亚的该项目提供基础设施，以及收集数据以改进银河模型的设施和进入拟议地点的通道。

This award will support collaboration between George Smoot of the space sciences group at the University of California-Berkeley and Sergio Torres of the astrophysics group at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Colombia. The project aims to study atmospheric conditions and preliminary radioastronomical measurements, in conjunction with the NSF-supported project on low frequency measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR). By looking at the spectral distribution of the CMBR, the researchers can study the process that took place in an early epoch of the universe when the mechanisms that triggered galaxy formation must have left an imprint in the radiation. Data from a site near the equator will provide maximum observation of the galactic plane. This project will map the galactic emission in orthogonal linear polarizations, in order to produce more precise maps than exist today. Besides acquiring galactic intensity data, the researchers will select sites for future polarization measurements requiring correlation of data taken at different sites. The U.S. group has developed the radiometric technique for the CMBR measurements to be used in the project. The Colombian group will provide the infrastructure for the project in Colombia, as well as facilities and access to proposed sites for collecting data to improve galactic models.