We present direct evidence for anomalous microwave emission in the Perseus molecular cloud, which shows a clear rising spectrum from 11 to 17 GHz in the data of the COSMOSOMAS experiment. By extending the frequency coverage using WMAP maps convolved with the COSMOSOMAS scanning pattern we reveal a peak flux density of 42 ± 4 Jy at 22 GHz integrated over an extended area ofThe flux density that we measure at this frequency is nearly an order of magnitude higher than can be explained in terms of normal galactic emission processes (synchrotron, free-free and thermal dust). An extended IRAS dust feature G159.6-18.5 is found near this position and no bright unresolved source which could be an ultracompact H ii region or gigahertz peaked source could be found. An adequate fit for the spectral density distribution can be achieved from 10 to 50 GHz by including a very significant contribution from electric dipole emission from small spinning dust grains.

The European Space Agency's Planck satellite, launched on 14 May 2009, is the third-generation space experiment in the field of cosmic microwave background (CMB) research. It will image the anisotropies of the CMB over the whole sky, with unprecedented sensitivity ( ΔT T ∼ 2 × 10 −6 ) and angular resolution (∼5 arcmin). Planck will provide a major source of information relevant to many fundamental cosmological problems and will test current theories of the early evolution of the Universe and the origin of structure. It will also address a wide range of areas of astrophysical research related to the Milky Way as well as external galaxies and clusters of galaxies. The ability of Planck to measure polarization across a wide frequency range (30−350 GHz), with high precision and accuracy, and over the whole sky, will provide unique insight, not only into specific cosmological questions, but also into the properties of the interstellar medium. This paper is part of a series which describes the technical capabilities of the Planck scientific payload. It is based on the knowledge gathered during the on-ground calibration campaigns of the major subsystems, principally its telescope and its two scientific instruments, and of tests at fully integrated satellite level. It represents the best estimate before launch of the technical performance that the satellite and its payload will achieve in flight. In this paper, we summarise the main elements of the payload performance, which is described in detail in the accompanying papers. In addition, we describe the satellite performance elements which are most relevant for science, and provide an overview of the plans for scientific operations and data analysis.

The European Space Agency's Planck satellite was launched on 14 May 2009, and has been surveying the sky stably and continuously since 13 August 2009. Its performance is well in line with expectations, and it will continue to gather scientific data until the end of its cryogenic lifetime. We give an overview of the history of Planck in its first year of operations, and describe some of the key performance aspects of the satellite. This paper is part of a package submitted in conjunction with Planck's Early Release Compact Source Catalogue, the first data product based on Planck to be released publicly. The package describes the scientific performance of the Planck payload, and presents results on a variety of astrophysical topics related to the sources included in the Catalogue, as well as selected topics on diffuse emission.

We present Q-U-I JOint TEnerife (QUIJOTE) intensity and polarisation maps at 10 − 20 GHz covering a region along the Galactic plane 24 • ∼ < l ∼ < 45 • , |b| ∼ < 8 • . These maps result from 210 h of data, have a sensitivity in polarisation of ≈40 µK beam −1 and an angular resolution of ≈ 1 • . Our intensity data are crucial to confirm the presence of anomalous microwave emission (AME) towards the two molecular complexes W43 (22σ) and W47 (8σ). We also detect at high significance (6σ) AME associated with W44, the first clear detection of this emission towards a SNR. The new QUI-JOTE polarisation data, in combination with WMAP, are essential to: i) Determine the spectral index of the synchrotron emission in W44, β sync = −0.62 ± 0.03, in good agreement with the value inferred from the intensity spectrum once a free-free component is included in the fit. ii) Trace the change in the polarisation angle associated with Faraday rotation in the direction of W44 with rotation measure −404 ± 49 rad m −2 . And iii) set upper limits on the polarisation of W43 of Π AME < 0.39 per cent (95 per cent C.L.) from QUIJOTE 17 GHz, and < 0.22 per cent from WMAP 41 GHz data, which are the most stringent constraints ever obtained on the polarisation fraction of the AME. For typical physical conditions (grain temperature and magnetic field strengths), and in the case of perfect alignment between the grains and the magnetic field, the models of electric or magnetic dipole emissions predict higher polarisation fractions.

The anomalous microwave emission detected in the Perseus molecular complex by Watson et al. has been observed at 11 GHz through dual orthogonal polarizations with the COSMOSOMAS experiment. Stokes U and Q maps were obtained at a resolution of ∼ 0 • .9 for a 30 • ×30 • region including the Perseus molecular complex. A faint polarized emission has been measured; we find Q = −0.2% ± 1.0%, while U = −3.4 +1.8 −1.4 % both at the 95% confidence level with a systematic uncertainty estimated to be lower than 1% determined from tests of the instrumental performance using unpolarized sources in our map as null hypothesis. The resulting total polarization level is Π = 3.4 +1.5 −1.9 %. These are the first constraints on the polarization properties of an anomalous microwave emission source. The low level of polarization seems to indicate that the particles responsible for this emission in the Perseus molecular complex are not significantly aligned in a common direction over the whole region, as a consequence of either a high structural symmetry in the emitting particle or a low-intensity magnetic field. Our weak detection is fully consistent with predictions from electric dipole emission and resonance relaxation at this frequency.