CMB FOREGROUNDS & GALACTIC MAGNETIC FIELD

THE SURVEY The Parkes Galactic Meridian Survey (PGMS) is a 5º wide strip to map the polarized synchrotron emission at all negative Galactic latitudes from the Galactic Plane down to the South Galactic Pole. Centred at the meridian l=254º, the 500 deg2 survey is carried out at the Parkes radiotelescope at a frequency of 2.3 GHz with 30 adjacent 8-MHz bands which enable Faraday Rotation studies. The survey also includes a 10ºx10º enlargement at b = --35º (but with centre shifted to l=251º) that is the area covered by the 2003 flight of the BOOMERanG experiment.   SCIENCE GOALS The scientific goal is two-fold: - The Galactic synchrotron emission is one of the main contaminants of the CMB Polarization signal, especially for the weak B-Mode which promises to measure the primordial gravitational wave background left by the Inflation. The PGMS provides crucial information to clean the cosmic signal and to allow its measurement. - The polarized synchrotron emission from the Galaxy is a powerful tool to probe the Galactic magnetism by measurements of RM (Rotation Measure). This is being quite well-studied in the Galactic plane, but little is known off plane. PGMS gives an insight into the Galactic magnetic field in the thick disc, halo, and at the disc-halo transition. FACTS & PERFORMANCES - Central frequency: 2.3 GHz - Bandwidth: 224 MHz - FWHM: 9’ σbeam: 0.3 mK; σRM (b=[0º, --30º]): 10 rad/m2 (internal data only) σRM (b=[--30º, --90º]): 2 rad/m2 (with 1.4 GHz data)http://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/http://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/shapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1