1994/09/13 by R. K. Schaefer, Schaefer, R. K., L. Piccirillo +1
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/9409031
14 pages uuencoded postscript +5 figures
arxiv created 1994/09/13 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
We consider several factors concerning the design of observing strategies in Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy experiments. First we consider the number of independent points on the sky one should observe given a fixed observing time. Given an assumed level of sky temperature fluctuations, σsky and the presence of instrumental noise s in units of K s-1/2 and a total observing time tobs, we find there is an optimum number of points in the sky to maximize the confidence level of a detection. This number is a function of the signal to noise ratio R2 = σsky2 tobs/s2. We verify this analytical result with a monte carlo simulation, which also includes the correlation between different positions in the sky. Furthermore, using an n=1 spectrum of Gaussian fluctuations, we show that arranging the observing patterns along a (great) circle, a raster scan, or a randomized pattern yields results which are indistinguishable in Monte carlos.