The COBE DIRBE Search for the Cosmic Infrared Background
Session 32 -- COBE
Oral presentation, Monday, 9, 1995, 2:00pm - 3:30pm

## [32.04] The COBE DIRBE Search for the Cosmic Infrared Background

M. G. Hauser (Laboratory for Astronomy and Solar Physics, NASA/GSFC)

The Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE ) on the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE ) satellite is designed to search for isotropic cosmic infrared background radiation over the spectral range from 1.25 to 240 $\mu$m. Because of the cosmic redshift and dust absorption and re-emission, the cumulative emissions of pregalactic, protogalactic, and evolving galactic systems are expected to be recorded in this background. The DIRBE instrument, a 10-spectral band absolute photometer and 3-band polarimeter with an 0.7 \deg\ x 0.7 \deg\ field of view, has mapped the full sky with high redundancy at solar elongation angles ranging from 64 \deg to 124 \deg\ to facilitate separation of interplanetary, Galactic, and extragalactic sources of emission. The ten DIRBE all-sky intensity maps show the expected character of the foreground emissions, with relative minima at wavelengths of 3.5 $\mu$m and longward of 100 $\mu$m. The polarization maps at 1.25, 2.2, and 3.5 $\mu$m show high linear polarization of the zodiacal light. Conservative limits on the isotropic infrared background are given by the minimum observed sky brightness in each DIRBE spectral band. Current foreground modeling approaches and limits on the cosmic infrared background will be discussed.

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\noindent \small{The National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA/GSFC) is responsible for the design, development, and operation of the COBE . Scientific guidance is provided by the COBE Science Working Group. The COBE program is supported by the Astrophysics Division of NASA's Office of Space Science.}