The U.S. National Science Foundation's Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor, or CLASS, a collaboration led by Johns Hopkins University astrophysicists, created the maps. By measuring microwave polarization, or how these energy waves wiggle in particular directions, the team is probing the history and physics of the universe—from the very first moments to when galaxies, stars, and planets formed. This signal helps scientists study our galaxy, but it can also confuse their view of the early universe. The CLASS observatory implemented new technologies, including smooth-walled feeds to guide radiation from space onto detectors, custom-designed detectors, and new polarization modulators. The CLASS observatory sits at an altitude of 16,860 feet in the Parque Astronómico Atacama in northern Chile under the auspices of the Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo.
