t"Three-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) observations: Temperature analysis," by G. Hinshaw and 21 others, Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 170(2): 288-334, June 2007.

[Authors' affiliations: 15 U.S. and Canadian institutions]

From the Abstract: "We present new full-sky temperature maps in five frequency bands from 23 to 94 GHz, based on data from the first 3 years of the WMAP sky survey. The new maps are consistent with the first-year maps and are more sensitive. The 3 year maps incorporate several improvements in data processing made possible by the additional years of data and by a more complete analysis of the polarization signal. These include several new consistency tests as well as refinements in the gain calibration and beam response models. We employ two forms of multifrequency analysis to separate astrophysical foreground signals from the CMB, each of which improves on our first-year analyses. First, we form an improved "Internal Linear Combination'' (ILC) map, based solely on WMAP data, by adding a bias-correction step and by quantifying residual uncertainties in the resulting map. Second, we fit and subtract new spatial templates that trace Galactic emission; in particular, we now use low-frequency WMAP data to trace synchrotron emission instead of the 408 MHz sky survey. The WMAP point source catalog is updated to include 115 new sources whose detection is made possible by the improved sky map sensitivity...."

This 2007 report from the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series was cited 46 times in current journal articles indexed by Thomson Reuters during July-August 2008. Only one other physics paper published in the last two years, aside from reviews, collected a higher citation total during that two-month period. Prior to the most recent bimonthly count, citations to the paper have accrued as follows:

May-June 2008: 28 citations
March-April 2008: 32
January-February 2008: 20
November-December 2007: 13
September-October 2007: 14
July-August 2007: 4

Total citations to date: 157

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