Astronomy & Astrophysics Advisory Astronomy & Astrophysics Advisory Committee (AAAC)Committee (AAAC)

May 11, 2006May 11, 2006

Vladimir PapitashviliVladimir PapitashviliAntarctic Sciences SectionAntarctic Sciences SectionOffice of Polar ProgramsOffice of Polar Programs

National Science FoundationNational Science Foundation

Cosmology and Cosmology and Astrophysics at Astrophysics at

South Pole StationSouth Pole Station

Science at South Pole2005-2006: 37 projects

Solar Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology

13 projects

Meteorology and Climatology4 projects

Geology and Geophysics2 projects

Dark Sector

Quiet Sector

Clean Air SectorAeronomy and Space Physics

14 projects

Glaciology 2 projects

Science Support 2 projects

Radio Telescopes Radio Telescopes at South Poleat South Pole

45 m

16 m

10-m South Pole Telescope

BICEP

QUaD

Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarimeter (BICEP)

Collects 4.0 Gigabytes of data per dayat South Pole since February 2006

Transmits 2.5 GB/day after compression

Wide field refractor Receiver: - All-cold optic: 2 lenses + filters - 17° FOV, high throughput - Flat, telecentric focal plane

Collaboration - Caltech (PI: Andrew Lange) - JPL - U. C. Berkeley - U. C. San Diego

Next Generation CMB Polarization Measurements with the QUEST

Experiment on DASI (QUaD) 

Observes CMB Polarization signalsat South Pole since February 2005

2.6-m Cassegrain telescope equipped with a next generation polarization-sensitive bolometer array

Collaboration - Stanford University (PI: Sarah Church) - Caltech - U. Chicago

BICEP and QUaD are aimed to detect signatures of gravity waves in CMB for the experimental test of InflationBICEP and QUaD are aimed to detect signatures of gravity waves in CMB for the experimental test of Inflation

Collects 2.5 Gigabytes of data per day

Transmits 1.0 GB/day after compression

10m South Pole Telescope (SPT)

Scheduled for Nov 2006 – Jan 2007 deployment

Low noise, precision telescope 20 m rms surface over 10m 1 arcsecond pointing 1 arcmin resolution at 2 mm scan entire telescope 3 levels of shielding

- 1 m radius on primary- inner moving shields- outer fixed shields

Detector: 996 bolometer array

SZE and CMB Anisotropy - up to 5 bands (start w/3) 90,150, 220, 270, 350 GHz - 4000 sq deg SZE survey - deep CMB anisotropy fields - deep CMB Polarization fields

Collaboration - KICP, U. of Chicago (PI: John Carlstrom) - U. C. Berkeley - U.I.U.C. - Case-Western - SAO

To test cosmological models studying CMB polarization and Sunyaev – Zel’dovich Effect, look for Dark Energy state

In 2007, SPT plans to collect ~30 GB of data per day (after compression), but the current link can transmit only ~10 GB

After the upgrade of South Pole satellite communication, the data volume will be increased to ~90 GB per day

IceCube High Energy Neutrino Observatory

Design Parameters:

• Energy sensitivity 100 GeV – 10 PeV, pointing accuracy for high-energy muon tracks 0.7o , time resolution of optical element <5 ns

• 1 km3 of clear ice (1400-2400m below surface) instrumented minimum with 4200 Digital Optical Modules (DOM) in 70 strings; 60 DOMs at each string, on 125-m lattice spacing

• Data transmission, storage: 30 GBytes/day satellite; 150 GBytes/day written to tape at Pole (flown out by plane during austral summer)

Status:

• 1st string deployed in January 2005; 8 new strings deployed in December 2005 – January 2006 in first try at ‘production’ drilling and deployment season

• DOMs met or exceeded technical specifications regarding low noise and timing resolution; survival rate of DOMs deployed 99%

• Hot water drill developed to drill the 60 cm diameter, 2.5-km deep holes; met all technical milestones: drill rate & fuel usage requirements

AMANDA

Hot Water Drilling

IceCube cost: $271.8M $242.1M from NSF; balance – from foreign projectsStart: FY2002 Completion: FY2011

IceCube High Energy Neutrino Observatory

(1) Schematic of IceCube showing track along with AMANDA(2) Deployment team as last DOM heads down-hole (Jan.2006)(3) Digital Optical Module, 13” diameter, with on-board electronics

package

(1) (2) (3)