Orateur
Description
The Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope Observatory (BLAST Observatory) is a proposed NASA super-pressure balloon mission. BLAST Observatory will include a 1.8 m off-axis primary mirror and observe at 175, 250, and 350 microns simultaneously, with a total of 8274 polarization-sensitive microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) cooled to 100 mK. The telescope will be launched from Wanaka, NZ, and we expect a 31-day flight, limited by the hold-time of the Helium-4 cooled cryostat.
The BLAST Observatory will map polarized thermal emission from dust in giant molecular clouds and the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) of the Milky Way, allowing us to answer fundamental questions about star formation and the physical properties of dust.
The three main science goals are to (a) investigate the origins of low star formation efficiency, (b) measure the properties of magneto-hydrodynamic turbulence in the diffuse ISM, and (c) constrain the size distribution, composition, and alignment properties of dust.
With the previous BLAST-TNG experiment, the collaboration pioneered several technologies and shared-risk observing for balloon-borne experiments. We plan to continue this with BLAST Observatory by opening 30% of our observing time to the community."
