Planck Early Results: The Planck mission
Planck Collaboration, P. A. R. Ade, N. Aghanim, M. Arnaud, M. Ashdown, J. Aumont, C. Baccigalupi, M. Baker, A. Balbi, A. J. Banday, R. B. Barreiro, J. G. Bartlett, E. Battaner, K. Benabed, K. Bennett, A. Benoît, J. -P. Bernard, M. Bersanelli, R. Bhatia, J. J. Bock, A. Bonaldi, J. R. Bond, J. Borrill, F. R. Bouchet, T. Bradshaw, M. Bremer, M. Bucher, C. Burigana, R. C. Butler, P. Cabella, C. M. Cantalupo, B. Cappellini, J. -F. Cardoso, R. Carr, M. Casale, A. Catalano, L. Cayón, A. Challinor, A. Chamballu, J. Charra, R. -R. Chary, L. -Y Chiang, C. Chiang, P. R. Christensen, D. L. Clements, S. Colombi, F. Couchot, A. Coulais, B. P. Crill, G. Crone, M. Crook, F. Cuttaia, L. Danese, O. D'Arcangelo, R. D. Davies, R. J. Davis, P. de Bernardis, J. de Bruin, G. de Gasperis, A. de Rosa, G. de Zotti, J. Delabrouille, J. -M. Delouis, F. -X. Dèsert, J. Dick, C. Dickinson, K. Dolag, H. Dole, S. Donzelli, O. Dorè, U. Dörl, M. Douspis, X. Dupac, G. Efstathiou, T. A. Enfllin, H. K. Eriksen, F. Finelli, S. Foley, O. Forni, P. Fosalba, M. Frailis, E. Franceschi, M. Freschi, T. C. Gaier, S. Galeotta, J. Gallegos, B. Gandolfo, K. Ganga, M. Giard, G. Giardino, G. Gienger, Y. Giraud-Hèraud, J. González, J. González-Nuevo, K. M. Górski, S. Gratton, A. Gregorio, A. Gruppuso, G. Guyot, J. Haissinski, F. K. Hansen, D. Harrison, G. Helou, S. Henrot-Versillè, C. Hernández-Monteagudo, D. Herranz, S. R. Hildebrandt, E. Hivon, M. Hobson, W. A. Holmes, A. Hornstrup, W. Hovest, R. J. Hoyland, K. M. Huffenberger, A. H. Jaffe, T. Jagemann, W. C. Jones, J. J. Juillet, M. Juvela, P. Kangaslahti, E. Keihänen, R. Keskitalo, T. S. Kisner, R. Kneissl, L. Knox, M. Krassenburg, H. Kurki-Suonio, G. Lagache, A. Lähteenmäki, J. -M. Lamarre, A. E. Lange, A. Lasenby, R. J. Laureijs, C. R. Lawrence, S. Leach, J. P. Leahy, R. Leonardi, C. Leroy, P. B. Lilje, M. Linden-Vørnle, M. López-Caniego, S. Lowe, P. M. Lubin, J. F. Macìas-Pèrez, T. Maciaszek, C. J. MacTavish, B. Maffei, D. Maino, N. Mandolesi, R. Mann, M. Maris, E. Martìnez-González, S. Masi, M. Massardi, S. Matarrese, F. Matthai, P. Mazzotta, A. McDonald, P. McGehee, P. R. Meinhold, A. Melchiorri, J. -B. Melin, L. Mendes, A. Mennella, C. Mevi, R. Miniscalco, S. Mitra, M. -A. Miville-Deschínes, A. Moneti, L. Montier, G. Morgante, N. Morisset, D. Mortlock, D. Munshi, A. Murphy, P. Naselsky, P. Natoli, C. B. Netterfield, H. U. Nørgaard-Nielsen, F. Noviello, D. Novikov, I. Novikov, I. J. O'Dwyer, I. Ortiz, S. Osborne, P. Osuna, C. A. Oxborrow, F. Pajot, R. Paladini, B. Partridge, F. Pasian, T. Passvogel, G. Patanchon, D. Pearson, T. J. Pearson, O. Perdereau, L. Perotto, F. Perrotta, F. Piacentini, M. Piat, E. Pierpaoli, S. Plaszczynski, P. Platania, E. Pointecouteau, G. Polenta, N. Ponthieu, L. Popa, T. Poutanen, G. Prèzeau, S. Prunet, J. -L. Puget, J. P. Rachen, W. T. Reach, R. Rebolo, M. Reinecke, J. -M. Reix, C. Renault, S. Ricciardi, T. Riller, I. Ristorcelli, G. Rocha, C. Rosset, M. Rowan-Robinson, J. A. Rubiñ-Martìn, B. Rusholme, E. Salerno, M. Sandri, D. Santos, G. Savini, B. M. Schaefer, D. Scott, M. D. Seiffert, P. Shellard, A. Simonetto, G. F. Smoot, C. Sozzi, J. -L. Starck, J. Sternberg, F. Stivoli, V. Stolyarov, R. Stompor, L. Stringhetti, R. Sudiwala, R. Sunyaev, J. -F. Sygnet, D. Tapiador, J. A. Tauber, D. Tavagnacco, D. Taylor, L. Terenzi, D. Texier, L. Toffolatti, M. Tomasi, J. -P. Torre, M. Tristram, J. Tuovinen, M. Türler, M. Tuttlebee, G. Umana, L. Valenziano, J. Valiviita, J. Varis, L. Vibert, P. Vielva, F. Villa, N. Vittorio, L. A. Wade, B. D. Wandelt, C. Watson, S. D. M. White, M. White, A. Wilkinson, D. Yvon, A. Zacchei, A. Zonca
TL;DR
Planck's Early Results paper summarizes the first year of Planck operations, detailing mission history, scanning strategy, ground data handling, and the in-flight performance of the LFI and HFI payloads. It shows that the spacecraft operated stably, with pointing and thermal stability close to predictions, and that the cryogenic chain provided sufficient lifetime margins for two full sky surveys. It also documents commissioning challenges and their resolutions, and introduces the ERCSC as a high-reliability all-sky source catalog released early to enable follow-up across facilities such as Herschel. Overall, the article validates the mission design, data-processing pipelines, and expected scientific return, setting the stage for future analyses and data releases through 2013–2014.
Abstract
The European Space Agency's Planck satellite was launched on 14 May 2009, and has been surveying the sky stably and continuously since 13 August 2009. Its performance is well in line with expectations, and it will continue to gather scientific data until the end of its cryogenic lifetime. We give an overview of the history of Planck in its first year of operations, and describe some of the key performance aspects of the satellite. This paper is part of a package submitted in conjunction with Planck's Early Release Compact Source Catalogue, the first data product based on Planck to be released publicly. The package describes the scientific performance of the Planck payload, and presents results on a variety of astrophysical topics related to the sources included in the Catalogue, as well as selected topics on diffuse emission.