NIKA2 technical run #67 (pol) / August 2024

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Goals

This technical run is carried out in the framework of project COSMOCal, which aims to provide a space calibrator for polarization experiments, focusing on the absolute calibration of Cosmic Microwave Background experiments. The idea is to provide a very well known calibration, in particular of the polarization angle, of large aperture telescopes. Among the ones selected there is the IRAM 30m and NIKA2. Once very well calibrated they will map the Crab nebula and other reference sources to provide a reference for any polarization experiment on behalf of the whole community interested in precise polarization observations.

As one of the first steps, COSMOCal Team has developed and assembled a prototype focusing the NIKA2 camera and providing a system that can ensure a knowledge on the absolute polarization angle with a precision of <0.1 deg. More details can be find in a paper submitted by the Team: https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.12135

The first goal of this technical run (project T16-24) is to place that prototype on the top of Pico Veleta and perform observations with NIKA2 in polarization during this week.

Essential issues to be tested:

Observations required:

Schedule

Staff

Alessia Ritacco, Sofia Savorgnano, Ludovico Bizzarri, Pascal Morfin (on-site), Nicolas Ponthieu (remote)