08 MAY. 2008
publication date
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Planck offered vastly improved performance in measuring the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation compared to balloon-borne and ground-based experiments and exceeded the performance of any previous space-based instruments of this kind.
The spacecraft revolved about its Sun-pointing axis once per minute to stabilise its attitude. Planck used this stabilisation spin to scan the sky, observing at least 95% of it through two separate observation periods in a span of 15 months.
The Planck spacecraft | |
|---|---|
Dimensions | 4.20 x 4.22 m (height x width) |
Mass | 1.95 tonnes at launch |
Spacecraft | Spin stabilised, 1 rpm |
Telescope mirror | 1.9 x 1.5 m primary reflector |
Telescope mass | 205 kg with focal plane unit |
Lifetime | A minimum of 15 months, limited by degradation of cooling system |
Operational orbit | Lissajous orbit at an average distance of 400 000 km from L2 |
Propulsion | Hydrazine, 12 thrusters x 20 N each, 4 thrusters x 1 Newton each |
Solar arrays | Flat, fixed triple-junction Gallium-Arsenide cell panels on rear of spacecraft |
Solar array area: 13m2 | |
Batteries | 39 Ah lithium ion batteries |
Communication | 3 x low gain antennae 1 x medium gain antenna |
Media modal
Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation
The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) is the cooled remnant of the first light that could ever travel freely throughout the Universe. This 'fossil' radiation, the furthest that any telescope can see, was released soon after the Big Bang.
Travelling back in time
Every time you look at the sky, you travel back in time... in a sense.
Observations: Seeing in microwave wavelengths
The Universe in microwave wavelengths is a place of unfamiliar brightness. If our eyes could see microwaves, the entire sky would radiate. Most peculiar of all, however, is that the brightness would be the same across the entire sky. Unlike any other waveband, in which diffuse emission is punctuated by bright objects, the entire sky glows uniformly with microwaves.
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