[ASA] Invitation to participate in PILOT stratospheric balloon experiment

[John O'Byrne]

Dear ASA members,

PILOT is a stratospheric balloon astronomy experiment to map polarized emission at infrared wavelengths (240 to 500 microns). The main science themes of PILOT are to map the direction of the magnetic field in the Galaxy, and probe the magnetic properties of ISM dust. Deep observations of diffuse regions at high galactic latitude will be used to characterize the polarized foreground emission, and devise methods for removing this component from CMB experiments.

After a successful first flight from Canada in September this year, PILOT is scheduled to be launched from Alice Springs in April 2017.

We are seeking interested Australian scientists to join the PILOT science team, and participate in the Alice Springs launch. Science team members will contribute to the scientific flight plan, and will have significant autonomy to devise projects that exploit the PILOT data and lead them to completion. The PILOT collaboration especially welcomes the participation of PhD students in the analysis of PILOT science and calibration data.

A PILOT information session will take place at 3pm on Friday December 18th at the CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science headquarters in Marsfield. If you are interested to join the PILOT science team or just want to know more, then please come to the information session, or contact the PILOT PI Jean-Philippe Bernard (jean-philippe.bernard at irap.omp.eu<mailto:jean-philippe.bernard at irap.omp.eu>) who will be visiting Australia in December and January. More information about the project is also available from the PILOT Australian contact scientist Jill Rathborne (jill.rathborne at csiro.au<mailto:jill.rathborne at csiro.au>).

PILOT is an international project under the leadership of L’Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (IRAP, Toulouse) and the French space agency (CNES), involving contributions from several European institutes.

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Dr. Annie Hughes
9, avenue du Colonel Roche
BP 44346 - 31028 Toulouse cedex 4
e: Annie.Hughes at irap.omp.eu<mailto:Annie.Hughes at irap.omp.eu>
*please note that hughes at mpia.de<mailto:hughes at mpia.de> has expired*
t: +33 (0)5 61 55 87 53
f: +33 (0)5 61 55 86 92
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