Tenerife Experiment

The Tenerife Experiment was a Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) experiment built by Jodrell Bank (then known as the Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories) of the University of Manchester in collaboration with the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC). It was the first CMB experiment to be installed and run at the Observatorio del Teide in Tenerife,[1] starting operations in October 1984,[2] and running with various upgrades and additional experiments until 2000.[1]

Tenerife Experiment
The remains of the Tenerife Experiment in 2018
Part ofTeide Observatory 
Location(s)Spain
Coordinates28°18′03″N 16°30′37″W
OrganizationInstituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
Jodrell Bank Observatory 
Wavelength10, 15, 33 GHz (3.00, 2.00, 0.91 cm)
First lightOctober 1984 
Decommissioned2000 
Telescope stylecosmic microwave background experiment
Dicke radiometer
radio telescope 
Websitewww.iac.es/proyecto/cmb/pages/en/former-cmb-experiments/the-tenerife-experiment.php
Location of Tenerife Experiment
Related media on Wikimedia Commons

It measured anisotropy of the CMB on angular sizes of 5 degrees, about the size of the upper half of the constellation of Orion (from the "belt" to the "shoulders"). To reduce receiver instability, it performed fast Dicke Switching between two horns separated by 8 degrees. To remove long term drifts and atmospheric variations, it used a further switch of 8 degrees using a flat mirror in front of the horns.

References

  1. "Anisotropías del Fondo Cósmico de Microondas - rad". research.iac.es. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  2. "Anisotropías del Fondo Cósmico de Microondas - Old webpage (1996-2000)". research.iac.es. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
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