The BINGO project II. Instrument description

Context. The measurement of diffuse 21-cm radiation from the hyperfine transition of neutral hydrogen (Hi signal) in different redshifts is an important tool for modern cosmology. However, detecting this faint signal with non-cryogenic receivers in single-dish telescopes is a challenging task. The BINGO (Baryon Acoustic Oscillations from Integrated Neutral Gas Observations) radio telescope is an instrument designed to detect baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAOs) in the cosmological Hi signal, in the redshift interval 0.127 ≤ z ≤ 0.449. Aims. This paper describes the BINGO radio telescope, including the current status of the optics, receiver, observational strategy, calibration, and the site. Methods. BINGO has been carefully designed to minimize systematics, being a transit instrument with no moving dishes and 28 horns operating in the frequency range 980 ≤ ν ≤ 1260 MHz. Comprehensive laboratory tests were conducted for many of the BINGO subsystems and the prototypes of the receiver chain, horn, polarizer, magic tees, and transitions have been successfully tested between 2018–2020. The survey was designed to cover ∼13% of the sky, with the primary mirror pointing at declination δ = −15°. The telescope will see an instantaneous declination strip of 14.75°. Results. The results of the prototype tests closely meet those obtained during the modeling process, suggesting BINGO will perform according to our expectations. After one year of observations with a 60% duty cycle and 28 horns, BINGO should achieve an expected sensitivity of 102 µK per 9.33 MHz frequency channel, one polarization, and be able to measure the Hi power spectrum in a competitive time frame.