The Simons Observatory

The Simons Observatory, a new millimeter-wave observatory in the Atacama, is now gathering data. With its smaller telescopes we are seeking a primordial signal imprinted by gravitational waves generated in the early universe. Its largest telescope is measuring the finer scales of the CMB with increased sensitivity, probing the initial conditions of the early universe as well as revealing the later-formed cosmic web of gas and dark matter through the gravitational lensing and Sunyaev Zel’dovich effects. It will map half the sky at arcminute resolution, overlapping with a number of large-scale structure surveys including Rubin. By surveying half the sky every couple of days, we also hope to see new types of transient astronomical events in millimeter-wavelengths.  I will talk about the current status of SO, and its science plans.

Speaker: Jo Dunkley, Princeton University