G. De Amici

Dipole anisotropy in the COBE DMR first year sky maps

We present a determination of the cosmic microwave background dipole amplitude and direction from the COBE Differential Microwave Radiometers (DMR) first year of data. Data from the six DMR channels are consistent with a Doppler-shifted Planck function of dipole amplitude ΔT=3.365±0.027 mK toward direction (l II , b II )=(264°.4±0°.3, 48°.4±0°.5). The implied velocity of the Local Group with respect to the CMB rest frame is v LG =627±22 km s −1 toward (l II , b II )=(276°±3°, 30°±3°). DMR has also mapped the dipole anisotropy resulting from the Earths orbital motion about the Solar system barycenter, yielding a measurement of the monopole CMB temperature T 0 at 31.5, 53, and 90 GHz, T 0 =2.75±0.05 KWe present a determination of the cosmic microwave background dipole amplitude and direction from the COBE Differential Microwave Radiometers (DMR) first year of data. Data from the six DMR channels are consistent with a Doppler-shifted Planck function of dipole amplitude Delta T = 3.365 +/-0.027 mK toward direction (l,b) = (264.4 +/- 0.3 deg, 48.4 +/- 0.5 deg). The implied velocity of the Local Group with respect to the CMB rest frame is 627 +/- 22 km/s toward (l,b) = (276 +/- 3 deg, 30 +/- 3 deg). DMR has also mapped the dipole anisotropy resulting from the Earths orbital motion about the Solar system barycenter, yielding a measurement of the monopole CMB temperature at 31.5, 53, and 90 GHz, to be 2.75 +/- 0.05 K.

Preliminary separation of galactic and cosmic microwave emission for the COBE Differential Microwave Radiometer

Preliminary models of microwave emission from the Milky Way Galaxy based on COBE and other data are constructed for the purpose of distinguishing cosmic and Galactic signals. Differential Microwave Radiometer (DMR) maps, with the modeled Galactic emission removed, are fitted for a quadrupole distribution. Autocorrelation functions for individual Galactic components are presented. When Galactic emission is removed from the DMR data, the residual fluctuations are virtually unaffected, and therefore they are not dominated by any known Galactic emission component. 42 refs.

A Determination of the Spectral Index of Galactic Synchrotron Emission in the 1-10 GHz Range

We present an analysis of simultaneous multifrequency measurements of the Galactic emission in the 1-10 GHz range with 18° angular resolution taken from a high-altitude site. Our data yield a determination of the synchrotron spectral index between 1.4 and 7.5 GHz of βsyn = 2.81 ± 0.16. Combining our data with maps made by Haslam et al. and Reich & Reich, we find βsyn = 2.76 ± 0.11 in the 0.4-7.5 GHz range. These results are in agreement with the few previously published measurements. The variation of βsyn with frequency based on our results and compared with other data found in the literature suggests a steepening of the synchrotron spectrum toward high frequencies, as expected from theory because of the steepening of the parent cosmic-ray electron energy spectrum. Comparison between the Haslam data and the 19 GHz map of Cottingham also indicates a spatial variation of the spectral index on large angular scales. Additional high-quality data are necessary to provide a serious study of these effects.

New 33 GHz Measurements of the Cosmic Background RadiationIntensity

LBL-19323 Preprint LB Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Physics Division p. •Mr.£ Submitted t o The A s t r o p h y s i c a l J o u r n a l NEW 33 GHz MEASUREMENTS OF THE COSMIC BACKGROUND RADIATION INTENSITY G. De A m i c i , G. Smoot, S.D. and C. Witebsky March Friedman, TWO-WEEK This which is a Library may LOAN Circulating be borrowed COPY Copy for two weeks. Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC03-76SF00098

COBE differential Microwave Radiometers : preliminary systematic error analysis

The Differential Microwave Radiometers (DMR) instrument aboard the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) maps the full microwave sky in order to measure the large-angular-scale anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation. Solar system foreground sources, instrumental effects, as well as data recovery and processing, can combine to create statistically significant artifacts in the analyzed data. We discuss the techniques available for the identification and subtraction of these effects from the DMR data and present preliminary limits on their magnitude in the DMR 1 yr maps (Smoot et al. 1992)

Low-Frequency Measurements of the Cosmic Background Radiation Spectrum

The long-wavelength spectrum of the cosmic background radiation has been measured at five wavelengths (0.33, 0.9, 3.0, 6.3, and 12.0 cm). These measurements represent a continuation of the work reported by Smoot et al. (1983). The combine results have a weighted average of 2.73 {+-} 0.05 K and are consistent with past measurements. They limit the possible Compton distortion of the Cosmic Background Radiation spectrum to less than 8%.

COBE differential microwave radiometers - Calibration techniques

The COBE spacecraft was launched November 18, 1989 UT carrying three scientific instruments into earth orbit for studies of cosmology. One of these instruments, the Differential Microwave Radiometer (DMR), is designed to measure the large-angular-scale temperature anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation at three frequencies (31.5, 53, and 90 GHz). This paper presents three methods used to calibrate the DMR. First, the signal difference between beam-filling hot and cold targets observed on the ground provides a primary calibration that is transferred to space by noise sources internal to the instrument. Second, the moon is used in flight as an external calibration source. Third, the signal arising from the Doppler effect due to the earths motion around the barycenter of the solar system is used as an external calibration source. Preliminary analysis of the external source calibration techniques confirms the accuracy of the currently more precise ground-based calibration. Assuming the noise source behavior did not change from the ground-based calibration to flight, a 0.1-0.4 percent relative and 0.7-2.5 percent absolute calibration uncertainty is derived, depending on radiometer channel.

THE GEM PROJECT: AN INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION TO SURVEY GALACTIC RADIATION EMISSION

The GEM (Galactic Emission Mapping) project is an international collaboration established with the aim of surveying the full sky at long wavelengths with a multi-frequency radio telescope. A total of 745 hours of observation at 408 MHz were completed from an Equatorial site in Colombia. The observations cover the celestial band 0h<α<24h, and −24° 22′<δ<+35° 37′. Preliminary results of this partial survey will be discussed. A review of the instrumental setup and a ∼10° resolution sky map at 408 MHz is presented.

A Measurement of the Cosmic Microwave Background Temperature at 7.5 GHz

The temperature of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation at a frequency of 7.5 GHz (4 cm wavelength) is measured, obtaining a brightness temperature of T(CMB) = 2.70 +/- 0.08 K (68 percent confidence level). The measurement was made from a site near the geographical South Pole during the austral spring of 1989 and was part of an international collaboration to measure the CMB spectrum at low frequencies with a variety of radiometers from several different sites. This recent result is in agreement with the 1988 measurement at the same frequency, which was made from a different site with significantly different systematic errors. The combined result of the 1988 and 1989 measurements is 2.64 +/- 0.06 K. 11 refs.

An Analysis of Recent Measurements of the Temperature of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation

This paper presents an analysis of the results of recent temperature measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR). The observations for wavelengths longer than 0.1 cm are well fit by a blackbody spectrum at 2.74 {+-} 0.02 K; however, including the new data of Matsumoto et al. (1987) the result is no longer consistent with a Planckian spectrum. The data are described by a Thomson-distortion parameter u = 0.021 {+-} 0.002 and temperature 2.823 {+-} 0.010 K at the 68% confidence level. Fitting the low-frequency data to a Bose-Einstein spectral distortion yields a 95% confidence level upper limit of 1.4 x 10{sup -2} on the chemical potential {mu}{sub 0}. These limits on spectral distortions place restrictions on a number of potentially interesting sources of energy release to the CMBR, including the hot intergalactic medium proposed as the source of the X-ray background.