Astro-H
Astro-H is the sixth in the series of successful Japanese X-ray observatories devoted to the study of energetic processes in celestial objects. Under development for a 2014 launch by the Japanese space agency JAXA jointly with NASA, the mission will investigate the physics of the high-energy Universe via a suite of four instruments, covering a very wide energy range, from 0.3 keV...
Read More »BICEP2
The data release page and papers are located at: bicepkeck.org
The primary goal of BICEP2 was to measure the very faint polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). The CMB is a nearly perfect, uniform black body at 2.7 K, with...
Read More »Cherenkov Telescope Array
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) project is an initiative to build the next generation ground-based very high energy gamma-ray instrument. It will serve as an open observatory to a wide astrophysics community and will provide a deep insight into the non-thermal high-energy universe.
The present generation of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes H.E.S.S. , ...
Computational Astrophysics
On these pages you will find an selection of the wide range of computational challenges tackled by KIPAC researchers. Our mission is to bridge theoretical and experimental physics communities to bring their combined strength to bear on some of the most challenging and fascinating problems in particle astrophysics and cosmology.
Computing is important to nearly all the scientific activities at KIPAC. This includes theoretical calculations as well as calculations relevant observations...
Read More »Cryogenic Dark Matter Search
Observations of galaxies, galaxy clusters, distant supernovae, and the cosmic microwave background radiation tell us that ~85% of the matter in the universe is comprised of one or more species of dark matter. With the continuing success of the Standard Model of particle physics, the existence of dark matter provides one of the few tangible sign posts as we seek to understand what lies beyond the Standard Model. Deciphering the nature of this dark matter would be of fundamental importance...
Read More »Dark Energy Survey
The Dark Energy Survey (DES) is a new survey of distant galaxies that aims to unravel the mystery of cosmic acceleration.
The DES uses multiple techniques to measure and study dark energy, the putative driving force of cosmic acceleration. Specifically, the DES studies dark energy through its impact on the abundance of galaxy clusters, weak gravitational lensing signals, type Ia supernovae and detections of large-scale correlations between galaxies. The combination of these various...
Read More »
Fermi
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (FGST or Fermi) is a space observatory being used to perform gamma-ray astronomy observations from low Earth orbit. Originally called the Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope, or GLAST, the mission was renamed for the physicist Enrico Fermi after its successful launch into orbit aboard a Delta II 7920-H rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida on June 11, 2008. The mission is a joint venture of NASA, the United States Department of Energy and an array of...
Read More »KECK
The Keck Array
The Keck Array is a sensitive telescope for measuring the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) on degree angular scales. Like its sister project, BICEP2, it is designed for excellent control of systematics. The Keck Array is made up of several identical telescopes, with the multiple receivers giving increased mapping speed and greater sensitivity. It...
Read More »
Large Synoptic Survey Telescope
The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is a large-aperture wide-field, ground-based telescope that will survey half the sky every few nights in six optical bands ranging from 320 to 1050 nm.
The LSST camera, currently in the final stages of the R&D phase ,will produce a data set that will allow us to better evaluate a wide range of pressing questions about the attributes of dark energy and dark matter, the formation of the Milky Way, the properties of small bodies in the...
LUX-ZEPLIN
In 1933, Fritz Zwicky realized that most of the matter in the Coma galaxy cluster was invisible. This finding launched a decades-long search for dark matter. Observation after observation has confirmed that this mysterious matter must exist and in fact makes up about a quarter of our universe. But we have yet to identify its specific nature.
A leading hypothesis is that dark matter is composed of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, or WIMPs....
Read More »