In the framework of the current cosmological model, precision measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background fluctuations represent an effective way to investigate the early and very early universe. The Planck satellite, working from the Lagrangian point L2 of the Sun-Earth system, has operated with an unprecedented combination of sensitivity, angular resolution, and spectral coverage. This allows the best possible separation of foreground radiation and a clean extraction of small cosmological signals like the polarization of the CMB, secondary anisotropies, non gaussian fluctuations. Meanwhile, other experiments are being developed with the mission to reduce systematic effects. We will describe the status of the Planck mission, focusing on key recent results, and the custom experimental strategies and new technologies developed to measure the B-modes of CMB polarization, the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect in clusters of galaxies, and possibly non gaussianity.

Page created on February 26, 2012, last updated on March 21, 2012.