A cooled telescope for measurements of the Near Infrared Cosmological Background at balloon altitude (TRIP Experiment)

A cooled telescope has been designed and prepared for measurements of both local and cosmological Near Infrared Backgrounds in the waveband 1-5 μ m at balloon altitude (40 km). The detection system consists of a linear array with 32 InSb pixels placed in the focal plane of the telescope, cryogenically cooled and thermally controlled. A short description is given of the main characteristics of the instrument and of the expected performances. The experiment, repeatedly tested in laboratory, flew in the 1995 summer from Palestine (Texas, USA)