1-03
Gabriele Coppi
University of Milan-Bicocca
BLAST Observatory
The BLAST Observatory is a proposed superpressure balloon-borne polarimeter designed for a future ultra-long duration balloon campaign from Wanaka, New Zealand. To maximize scientific output while staying within the stringent superpressure weight envelope, BLAST will feature a new 1.8m off-axis optical system in a Gregorian configuration contained within a lightweight monocoque structure gondola. The payload will incorporate a 300L 4He cryogenic receiver which will cool 8,274 microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) to 100mK through the use of an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR) at three different wavelengths, 175, 250 and 350um. The detector readout utilizes a new Xilinx RFSOC-based system which will run the next-generation of the BLAST-TNG KIDPy software. With this instrument we aim to answer outstanding questions about interstellar dust properties, turbulence, and the role of magnetic fields in the process of star formation as well as provide community access to the polarized submillimeter sky made possible by high-altitude observing unrestricted by atmospheric transmission. The BLAST Observatory will be proposed as a joint collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency. The BLAST Observatory is designed for a minimum 31-day flight of which 70% will be dedicated to observations for BLAST scientific goals and the remaining 30% will be open to proposals from the wider astronomical community through a shared-risk proposals program.
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