Tenerife Experiment

The Tenerife Experiment was a Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) experiment built by Jodrell Bank (then known as the Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories) of the University of Manchester in collaboration with the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC). It was the first CMB experiment to be installed and run at the Observatorio del Teide in Tenerife,[1] starting operations in October 1984,[2] and running with various upgrades and additional experiments until 2000.[1]

Tenerife Experiment

The remains of the Tenerife Experiment in 2018
Part of	Teide Observatory
Location(s)	Spain
Coordinates	28°18′03″N 16°30′37″W
Organization	Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias Jodrell Bank Observatory
Wavelength	10, 15, 33 GHz (3.00, 2.00, 0.91 cm)
First light	October 1984
Decommissioned	2000
Telescope style	cosmic microwave background experiment Dicke radiometer radio telescope
Website	www.iac.es/proyecto/cmb/pages/en/former-cmb-experiments/the-tenerife-experiment.php
Location of Tenerife Experiment
Related media on Wikimedia Commons

It measured anisotropy of the CMB on angular sizes of 5 degrees, about the size of the upper half of the constellation of Orion (from the "belt" to the "shoulders"). To reduce receiver instability, it performed fast Dicke Switching between two horns separated by 8 degrees. To remove long term drifts and atmospheric variations, it used a further switch of 8 degrees using a flat mirror in front of the horns.

References

1. "Anisotropías del Fondo Cósmico de Microondas - rad". research.iac.es. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
2. "Anisotropías del Fondo Cósmico de Microondas - Old webpage (1996-2000)". research.iac.es. Retrieved 3 October 2020.