Planck pre-launch status: The Planck-LFI programme

¹ INAF – IASF Bologna, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Bologna, via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy, e-mail: mandolesi@iasfbo.inaf.it
² Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria, 16, 20133 Milano, Italy
³ Dep. Ing. de Comunicaciones (DICOM), Universidad de Cantabria Av. De Los Castros S/N, 39005 Santander, Spain
⁴ SISSA/ISAS, Scuola Internazionale di Studi Superiori Avanzati/International Schools for Advanced Studies, Astrophysics Sector, via Beirut 2–4, Sezione di Trieste, 34014 Trieste, Italy
⁵ INFN, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste, via Valerio, 2, 34127 Trieste, Italy
⁶ INAF – OATs, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, via G.B. Tiepolo 11, 34131 Trieste, Italy
⁷ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”, via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Roma, Italy
⁸ MPA – Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 1, 85741 Garching, Germany
⁹ CESR, Centre d'Étude Spatiale des Rayonnements, 9 Av du Colonel Roche, BP 44346, 31028 Toulouse Cedex 4, France
¹⁰ Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria, CSIC- Universidad de Cantabria, Avenida de los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Spain
¹¹ Research and Scientific Support Department of ESA, ESTEC, Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, The Netherlands
¹² Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
¹³ INAF – OAPd, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Vicolo dellOsservatorio 5, 35122 Padova, Italy
¹⁴ University of California, Berkeley Space Sciences Lab 7 Gauss Way Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
¹⁵ Computational Cosmology Center, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
¹⁶ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, p.le A. Moro 2, 00185 Roma, Italy
¹⁷ ISDC Data Centre for Astrophysics, University of Geneva, ch. d'Ecogia 16, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
¹⁸ Herschel/Planck Project, Scientific Projects Dpt of ESA, Keplerlaan 1, 2200 AG, Noordwijk, The Netherlands
¹⁹ IFP-CNR, Istituto di Fisica del Plasma, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, via Roberto Cozzi, 53, 20125 Milano, Italy
²⁰ Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, University of Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
²¹ ASI, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Viale Liegi, 26, 00198 Roma, Italy
²² Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, PO Box 1029 Blindern, 0315 Oslo, Norway
²³ Centre of Mathematics for Applications, University of Oslo, PO Box 1053 Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway
²⁴ ESA – ESAC, European Space Agency, European Space Astronomy Centre, Villafranca del Castillo, Apdo. 50727, 28080 Madrid, Spain
²⁵ INAF-OABo, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna, via Ranzani 1, 40127 Bologna, Italy
²⁶ Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, C/ vía Láctea s/n, 38200, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
²⁷ Warsaw University Observatory, Aleje Ujazdowskie 4, 00-478 Warszawa, Poland
²⁸ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Trieste, via A. Valerio n. 2, 34127 Trieste, Italy
²⁹ Department of Physics, University of Miami, 1320 Campo Sano Avenue, Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA
³⁰ University of Helsinki, Department of Physics, PO Box 64, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
³¹ Helsinki Institute of Physics, PO Box 64, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
³² Metsähovi Radio Observatory, TKK, Helsinki University of Technology, Metsähovintie 114, 02540 Kylmälä, Finland
³³ Physics Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
³⁴ Astrophysics Group, Cavendish Laboratory, J.J. Thomson Avenue, CB3 0HE, Cambridge, UK
³⁵ Dipartimento di Fisica G. Galilei, Università degii Studi di Padova, via Marzolo 8, 35131 Padova, Italy
³⁶ ESA/ESAC/RSSD, European Space Agency, European Space Astronomy Centre, Research and Scientific Support Department, PO Box – Apdo. de correos 78, 28691 Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain
³⁷ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1, Canada
³⁸ INFN, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Tor Vergata, via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Roma, Italy
³⁹ ASI, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Science Data Center, c/o ESRIN, via G. Galilei, 00044 Frascati, Italy
⁴⁰ Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, L.go E. Fermi 5, Firenze, Italy
⁴¹ Department of Astronomy, Haverford College, Haverford, PA 19041, USA
⁴² INAF-OARo, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, via di Frascati 33, 00040 Monte Porzio Catone, Italy
⁴³ Institute for Space Sciences, Bucharest-Magurele, Str. Atomostilor, 409, Po Box Mg-23, Ro-077125, Romania
⁴⁴ Istituto di Scienza e Technologie dellInformazione “Alessandro Faedo”, CNR, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Area della Ricerca di Pisa, via G. Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy
⁴⁵ University of Oxford, Astrophysics, Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH, UK
⁴⁶ Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics, Physics Department, University of California, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
⁴⁷ Université Paris 7, APC, Case 7020, 75205 Paris Cedex 13, France
⁴⁸ MilliLab, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Information Technology PO Box 1000, 02044 VTT, Finland
⁴⁹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Berkeley, CA 94720, USA

Received: 6 July 2009
Accepted: 27 October 2009

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) programme within the ESA Planck mission. The LFI instrument has been developed to produce high precision maps of the microwave sky at frequencies in the range 27–77 GHz, below the peak of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation spectrum. The scientific goals are described, ranging from fundamental cosmology to Galactic and extragalactic astrophysics. The instrument design and development are outlined, together with the model philosophy and testing strategy. The instrument is presented in the context of the Planck mission. The LFI approach to ground and inflight calibration is described. We also describe the LFI ground segment. We present the results of a number of tests demonstrating the capability of the LFI data processing centre (DPC) to properly reduce and analyse LFI flight data, from telemetry information to calibrated and cleaned time ordered data, sky maps at each frequency (in temperature and polarization), component emission maps (CMB and diffuse foregrounds), catalogs for various classes of sources (the Early Release Compact Source Catalogue and the Final Compact Source Catalogue). The organization of the LFI consortium is briefly presented as well as the role of the core team in data analysis and scientific exploitation. All tests carried out on the LFI flight model demonstrate the excellent performance of the instrument and its various subunits. The data analysis pipeline has been tested and its main steps verified. In the first three months after launch, the commissioning, calibration, performance, and verification phases will be completed, after which Planck will begin its operational life, in which LFI will have an integral part.