The Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope: BLAST

• Published in: The Astrophysical Journal
• Main Authors: Pascale, E., Ade, P. A. R., Bock, J. J., Chapin, E. L., Chung, J., Devlin, M. J., Dicker, S, Griffin, M., Gundersen, J. O., Halpern, M., Hargrave, P. C., Hughes, D. H., Klein, J., Mactavish, C. J., Marsden, G., Martin, P. G., Martin, T. G., Mauskopf, P., Netterfield, C. B., Olmi, L., Patanchon, G., Rex, M., Scott, D., Semisch, C., Thomas, N., Truch, M. D. P., Tucker, C., Tucker, G. S., Viero, M. P., Wiebe, D. V.
• Other Authors: APC - Cosmologie, AstroParticule et Cosmologie (APC (UMR_7164)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2008
• Subjects: [PHYS.ASTR.CO]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Cosmology and Extra-Galactic Astrophysics [astro-ph.CO]; [SDU.ASTR.CO]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Cosmology and Extra-Galactic Astrophysics [astro-ph.CO]; Antarc*; Antarctica; Kiruna; Victoria Island; victoria island
• Online Access: https://hal.in2p3.fr/in2p3-00312675; https://doi.org/10.1086/588541

38 Pages, 11 figures; Replaced with version accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal; related results available at http://blastexperiment.info/ The Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (BLAST) is a sub-orbital surveying experiment designed to study the evolutionary history and processes of star formation in local galaxies (including the Milky Way) and galaxies at cosmological distances. The BLAST continuum camera, which consists of 270 detectors distributed between 3 arrays, observes simultaneously in broad-band (30%) spectral-windows at 250, 350, and 500 microns. The optical design is based on a 2m diameter telescope, providing a diffraction-limited resolution of 30" at 250 microns. The gondola pointing system enables raster mapping of arbitrary geometry, with a repeatable positional accuracy of ~30"; post-flight pointing reconstruction to ~5" rms is achieved. The on-board telescope control software permits autonomous execution of a pre-selected set of maps, with the option of manual override. In this paper we describe the primary characteristics and measured in-flight performance of BLAST. BLAST performed a test-flight in 2003 and has since made two scientifically productive long-duration balloon flights: a 100-hour flight from ESRANGE (Kiruna), Sweden to Victoria Island, northern Canada in June 2005; and a 250-hour, circumpolar-flight from McMurdo Station, Antarctica, in December 2006.