First results from the BOOMERanG experiment

We report the first results from the BOOMERanG experiment, which mapped at 90, 150, 240 and 410 GHz a wide (3%) region of the microwave sky with minimal local contamination. From the data of the best 150 GHz detector we find evidence for a well defined peak in the power spectrum of temperature fluctuations of the Cosmic Microwave Background, localized at =197+/-6, with an amplitude of (68+/-8)μKCMB. The location, width and amplitude of the peak is suggestive of acoustic oscillations in the primeval plasma. In the framework of inflationary adiabatic cosmological models the measured spectrum allows a Bayesian estimate of the curvature of the Universe and of other cosmological parameters. With reasonable priors we find Ω=(1.07+/-0.06) and ns=(1.00+/-0.08) (68%C.L.) in excellent agreement with the expectations from the simplest inflationary theories. We also discuss the limits on the density of baryons, of cold dark matter and on the cosmological constant.