Planck Science Team HomeThe Early Release Compact Source Catalogue can be accessed by the world-wide community from the Planck Legacy Archive link in the left hand menu. Latest NewsFollow-up of clusters: The final results from the XMM-Newton validation follow-up of new Planck cluster candidates is presented in a recent paper by the Planck Collaboration. These results illustrate the potential of the all-sky Planck survey to detect the most massive clusters in the Universe. Third Anniversary: May 14 2012 marks the 3rd anniversary of the launch of Planck and Herschel on an Ariane 5 rocket. Since August 2009, Planck has been surveying the sky stably and continuously. On November 2010, Planck successfully ended its 15 months nominal mission, and started its extended mission. On January 2012, Planck’s HFI ran out of coolant, as expected, and successfully completed its survey of the early Universe. Planck worked perfectly for about twice the span originally required. Able to work at slightly higher temperatures than HFI, the LFI still continues surveying the sky acquiring data to improve Planck’s results. At the present time, the spacecraft remains extremely healthy, and operations continue flawlessly. Planck Intermediate Results: The relation between galaxy cluster mass and Sunyaev-Zeldovich signal is examined in a recent paper by the Planck Collaboration.
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 Planck was selected as the third Medium-Sized Mission (M3) of ESA's Horizon 2000 Scientific Programme, and is today part of its Cosmic Vision Programme. It is designed to image the anisotropies of the Cosmic Background Radiation Field over the whole sky, with unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution. Planck will provide a major source of information relevant to several cosmological and astrophysical issues, such as testing theories of the early universe and the origin of cosmic structure. The scientific development of the mission is directed by the Planck Science Team.
Planck was formerly called COBRAS/SAMBA. After the mission was selected and approved (in late 1996), it was renamed in honor of the German scientist Max Planck (1858-1947), Nobel Prize for Physics in 1918. The High Frequency Instrument (HFI) on ESA’s Planck mission has completed its survey of the remnant light from the Big Bang. The sensor ran out of coolant on January 14 2012 as expected, ending its ability to detect this faint energy. Planck was launched in May 2009, and the minimum requirement for success was for the spacecraft to complete two whole surveys of the sky. In the end, Planck worked perfectly for 30 months, about twice the span originally required, and completed five full-sky surveys with both instruments. Able to work at slightly higher temperatures than HFI, the Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) will continue surveying the sky for a large part of 2012, providing even more data to improve the Planck final results. Read full story. The mission status is available via the menu at left.
Early astrophysics results produced by the Planck Collaboration are given in a set of 26 papers based on data taken between 13 August 2009 and 6 June 2010. Intermediate astrophysics results are now being presented in a series of papers based on data taken between 13 August 2009 and 27 November 2010. Click to access Planck publications. Click to access the Early Release Compact Source Catalogue A complete science case for Planck, often referred to as the "Bluebook", is available for download here. More information on Planck may be accessed via the links to the left and right (some of the links are restricted).
Please note that these pages are largely directed to the astronomical and Planck communities.
Other Planck pages under ESA's Main Planck Portal and Sci-Tech Planck Portal are more specifically directed to the public and the press. Need help ? If you are a member of the Planck Collaboration, with access to restricted areas of rssd pages, and are having problems using these facilities, you can ask for help by sending an email to RSSD Helpdesk putting "Planck" in the subject field. Also note that: (a) logging in via the rssd portal - via the menu at the left - solves most access problems; (b) if you have problems with your password, first try the automated password reset facility via the menu at left.
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