Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor
Written on January 31st , 2022 by Janvi Madhani
Cover Image Credit: Matthew Petroff
Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) is a microwave telescope located in the Atacama Desert of Chile, neighbors with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope I previously worked with! CLASS is uniquely positioned to look for gravitational B-modes, a distinct signature in the polarization pattern of the Cosmic Microwave Background that may provide the first lens into the early rapid expansion of the universe, known as inflation. I worked with the CLASS team and PI Tobias Marriage during my first year as a graduate student at Hopkins. My role was in data selection and analysis. On the data selection end, I developed and optimized post-demodulated data cuts which are then passed off to eventually be made into maps of the CMB. On the data analysis end, I worked on a project to characterize polarization from atmospheric effects on large angular scales. I also worked a little bit on cryogenic instrumentation. Read more about CLASS on their website, here!
