Pointing performance

The pointing performance of Planck can be measured by the difference between the executed pointings as described in the Attitude History Files (using the Star Trackers and the Fiber Optics Gyroscope), and the planned pointings by PSO in the Pre-Programmed Pointing Lists.

The pointing performance of Planck has been very good throughout operations, as the plots in the right panel show.

This plot exhibits the pointing errors in Ecliptic longitude for the period Sept. 2011 - Jan. 2012.

This plot exhibits the pointing errors in Ecliptic latitude for the period Sept. 2011 - Jan. 2012.

This plot exhibits a correlation between the periodic component of the pointing error and the duration of the pointing. This suggests a Solar drift origin to this component.