Structure of the extended emission in the infrared celestial background

Technical Report · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:7222687

Price, S D

The extended infrared celestial emission is due to three main sources: zodiacal dust, large discrete objects in the galaxy, and interstellar dust. As viewed from earth orbit, the thermal reradiation of sunlight absorbed by dust in the solar system produces a pervasive IR background that peaks roughly along the ecliptic plane, where the density of dust is highest. Much-smaller-scale structure was also observed in both the visual and infrared. Between 7 and 30 micrometers, H II regions are the brightest discrete objects in the galaxy. An additional emission mechanism is needed, however, to account for the shorter-wavelength observations. The galactic sources combine along the line of sight to produce an intense band of emission, centered on the galactic plane. Structure in all of these backgrounds creates a clutter problem for an orbiting IR telescope.

• Research Organization: Air Force Geophysics Lab., Hanscom AFB, MA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 7222687
• Report Number(s): AD-A-190632/0/XAB; AFGL-TR-88-0039
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Pub. in Optical Engineering, Vol. 27, No. 1, 075-085(Jan 1988)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
COSMIC DUST
INFRARED RADIATION
GALAXIES
BACKGROUND RADIATION
INTERSTELLAR SPACE
SOLAR SYSTEM
DENSITY
EMISSION
INFRARED SPECTRA
ZODIACAL LIGHT
DUSTS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
RADIATIONS
SPACE
SPECTRA
640102* - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Stars & Quasi-Stellar
Radio & X-Ray Sources
640104 - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Solar Phenomena