Images of the mm/sub-mm sky with stratospheric balloon experiments Original Research Article

The use of long duration stratospheric balloon platforms to map the sky at far infrared and millimetric frequencies is reviewed. We focus on recent experiments which have mapped the sky at mm/sub-mm wavelengths, improving our knowledge of the Galaxy and of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), and on near future experiments directly derived from these. These payloads use cryogenic bolometers as detectors and low sidelobes telescopes, and take advantage of the extremely low radiative background from the residual atmosphere. Emission from our Galaxy has been detected in the form of thermal emission from thin cirrus clouds at high Galactic latitudes, and in the form of free–free and dust emission in clouds at low Galactic latitudes. Structures in the Cosmic Microwave Background have also been detected, producing evidence for a new cosmological paradigm, requiring dark matter and dark energy in a vanishing curvature Universe. Future balloon-borne extragalactic surveys will focus on higher resolution CMB anisotropy, SZ in clusters of Galaxies and the FIR emission of primeval galaxies.