The {ital COBE} Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment Search for the Cosmic Infrared Background. I. Limits and Detections

Journal Article · Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 EST 1998 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/306379· OSTI ID:324902

Hauser, M G ^[1]; Arendt, R G ^[2]; Kelsall, T; Dwek, E ^[3]; Odegard, N; Weiland, J L; Freudenreich, H T ^[2]; Reach, W T ^[4]; Silverberg, R F; Moseley, S H ^[3]; Pei, Y C ^[1]; Lubin, P ^[5]; Mather, J C; Shafer, R A ^[3]; Smoot, G F ^[6]; Weiss, R ^[7]; Wilkinson, D T ^[8]; Wright, E L ^[9]

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1. Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
2. Raytheon STX, Code 685, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
3. Code 685, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
4. California Institute of Technology, IPAC/JPL, MS 100-22, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
5. Physics Department, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States)
6. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Space Sciences Laboratory, Department of Physics, UC Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)
7. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Room 20F-001, Department of Physics, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)
8. Princeton University, Department of Physics, Jadwin Hall, Box 708, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States)
9. UCLA, Astronomy Department, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1562 (United States)

The Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) on the Cosmic Background Explorer ({ital COBE}) spacecraft was designed primarily to conduct a systematic search for an isotropic cosmic infrared background (CIB) in 10 photometric bands from 1.25 to 240 {mu}m. The results of that search are presented here. Conservative limits on the CIB are obtained from the minimum observed brightness in all-sky maps at each wavelength, with the faintest limits in the DIRBE spectral range being at 3.5 {mu}m ({nu}{ital I}{sub {nu}} {lt} 64 nW m{sup {minus}2} sr{sup {minus}1}, 95{percent} confidence level) and at 240 {mu}m ({nu}{ital I}{sub {nu}} {lt} 28 nW m{sup {minus}2} sr{sup {minus}1}, 95{percent} confidence level). The bright foregrounds from interplanetary dust scattering and emission, stars, and interstellar dust emission are the principal impediments to the DIRBE measurements of the CIB. These foregrounds have been modeled and removed from the sky maps. Assessment of the random and systematic uncertainties in the residuals and tests for isotropy show that only the 140 and 240 {mu}m data provide candidate detections of the CIB. The residuals and their uncertainties provide CIB upper limits more restrictive than the dark sky limits at wavelengths from 1.25 to 100 {mu}m. No plausible solar system or Galactic source of the observed 140 and 240 {mu}m residuals can be identified, leading to the conclusion that the CIB has been detected at levels of {nu}{ital I}{sub {nu}} = 25 {plus_minus} 7 and 14 {plus_minus} 3 nW m{sup {minus}2} sr{sup {minus}1} at 140 and 240 {mu}m, respectively. The integrated energy from 140 to 240 {mu}m, 10.3 nW m{sup {minus}2} sr{sup {minus}1}, is about twice the integrated optical light from the galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field, suggesting that star formation might have been heavily enshrouded by dust at high redshift. The detections and upper limits reported here provide new constraints on models of the history of energy-releasing processes and dust production since the decoupling of the cosmic microwave background from matter. {copyright} {ital {copyright} 1998.} {ital The American Astronomical Society}

• OSTI ID: 324902
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 508, Issue 1; Other Information: PBD: Nov 1998
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

66 PHYSICS
BACKGROUND RADIATION
INFRARED SPECTRA
SPACE VEHICLES
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
COSMOLOGY
DIFFUSE RADIATION