Background Starlight observed from Pioneer 10

Weinberg, J. L.; Hanner, M. S.; Beeson, D. E.; DeShields, L. M.; Green, B. A.

doi:10.1029/ja079i025p03665

Cited by 42 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The spacecraft trajectory and observing geometry at four spacecraft positions in the asteroid belt are shown schematically in Figure 2 magnitude were prepared by the method described by Weinberg et al [1974]. The difference in intercept between these two days agreed within 1% with the change in sensitivity of 11.5% given by the five bright stars.…”

Section: Instrument Operation and Calibration mentioning

confidence: 92%

“…The IPP measures orthogonal brightness components in blue (3900-5000 A) and red (5950-7200 A) light to provide sky brightness, color, and polarization information [Pellicori et al, 1973;Weinberg et al, 1974]. A complete data cycle consists of ten spacecraft rolls, one each for dark current and calibration measurements and eight for sky measurements with a 2.3 ø by 2.3 ø field of view.…”

Section: Instrument Operation and Calibration mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The preliminary values were based on integrated starlight tables [Roach and Mcgill, 1961] before IPP maps beyond the asteroid belt were available. As discussed by Weinberg et al [1974], the integrated starlight tables are of varying accuracy, even at the high galactic latitudes purposely used in that preliminary analysis.…”

Section: Observations Beyond the Asteroid Beltmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Zodiacal light and the asteroid belt: The view from Pioneer 10

Hanner¹,

Weinberg²,

DeShields³

et al. 1974

J. Geophys. Res.

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Brightnesses measured by the Pioneer 10 imaging photopolarimeter in two regio,ns of sky were compared on sky maps at sun-spacecraft distances from 2.4 to 4.8 AU to determine the spatial extent of the zodiacal light. Data in the ecliptic at elongations greater than 90 ø show negligible contribution to the zodiacal light beyond 3.3 AU, the 2:1 Jupiter resonance. The zodiacal light brightness at 2.4 AU is less than 10% of that observed at I AU.The imaging photopolarimeters (IPP) on Pioneer 10 and 11 have provided two-color observations of the brightness and polarization of the zodiacal light at varying sun-spacecraft distances. The change in brightness with sun-spacecraft distance yields information on the spatial distribution of the zodiacal dust that cannot be determined solely from observations at 1 AU [Hanner and Leinert, 1972].In this paper we analyze brightnesses measured by the Pioneer 10 IPP between 2.41 and 4.82 AU to determine (1) the heliocentric distance at which we are no longer able to detect a zodiacal light component and (2) the contribution of the asteroid belt to the zodiacal light. These answers will provide limits on the dust concentration in and beyond the asteroid belt. INSTRUMENT OPERATION AND CALIBRATION, The IPP measures orthogonal brightness components in blue (3900-5000 A) and red (5950-7200 A) light to provide sky brightness, color, and polarization information [Pellicori et al., 1973; Weinberg et al., 1974]. A complete data cycle consists of ten spacecraft rolls, one each for dark current and calibration measurements and eight for sky measurements with a 2.3 ø by 2.3 ø field of view. As the spacecraft spins, the 2.3 ø instantaneous field of view sweeps out an annulus on the sky. The IPP output signals are integrated and sampled 64 times during one spacecraft spin to give 64 sectors of simultaneous blue and red data. To build up a map, the IPP steps by 1.8 ø in look angle L (angle between the spacecraft spin axis and the telescope line of sight) after each data cycle until the desired look angle range is covered. The effective field of view is 2.3 ø wide and 2.3 ø q-(360ø/64) sin L long. Figure 1 shows the field of view pattern near look angle 90 ø (upper diagram) and from 141ø to 170 ø (lower diagram). Look angle increases toward the right. In the upper diagram the fields of view have their maximum length of 7.9 ø . The shaded areas show one sector at two successive look angles, the darker shading representing the overlap between adjacent look angles. In the lower diagram the changing size of the field of view with look angle is evident. The shaded area has a length of two sectors, the darker shading showing the sector overlap of 2.3 ø . The direction of the spacecraft spin axis is near the lower right-hand edge of the diagram, at right ascension a 322 ø and declination • -16 ø. Owing to mechanical constraints the IPP cannot observe within 10 ø of the spin axi s. Absolute calibration of the IPP is based on preflight measurements of a •4C standard source, as is described by Copyright ¸ 19...

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Section: Instrument Operation and Calibration mentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Instrument Operation and Calibration mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Observations Beyond the Asteroid Beltmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Zodiacal light and the asteroid belt: The view from Pioneer 10

Hanner¹,

Weinberg²,

DeShields³

et al. 1974

J. Geophys. Res.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The detailed description of the observations and the primary data processing can be found in, e.g., Weinberg et al (1974) and Gordon et al (1998). Using the Pioneer 10 IPP data collected at various heliocentric distances R, Hanner et al (1974) find that the ZL brightness is below the detectable level of the instrument when the spacecraft is at beyond R = 3.26 AU.…”

Section: Observations and Reductionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cosmic Optical Background: the view from Pioneer 10/11

et al. 2011

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Abstract. We present the new constraints on the cosmic optical background (COB) obtained from an analysis of the Pioneer 10/11 Imaging Photopolarimeter (IPP) data. After careful examination of data quality, the usable measurements free from the zodiacal light are integrated into sky maps at the blue (∼0.44 µm) and red (∼0.64 µm) bands. Accurate starlight subtraction is achieved by referring to all-sky star catalogs and a Galactic stellar population synthesis model down to 32.0 mag. We find that the residual light is separated into two components: one component shows a clear correlation with thermal 100 µm brightness, while another betrays a constant level in the lowest 100 µm brightness region. Presence of the second component is significant after all the uncertainties and possible residual light in the Galaxy are taken into account, thus it most likely has the extragalactic origin (i.e., the COB). The derived COB brightness is (1.8 ± 0.9) × 10 −9 and (1.2 ± 0.9) × 10 −9 erg s −1 cm −2 sr −1Å−1 at the blue and red band, respectively, or 7.9 ± 4.0 and 7.7 ± 5.8 nW m −2 sr −1 . Based on a comparison with the integrated brightness of galaxies, we conclude that the bulk of the COB is comprised of normal galaxies which have already been resolved by the current deepest observations. There seems to be little room for contributions of other populations including "first stars" at these wavelengths. On the other hand, the first component of the IPP residual light represents the diffuse Galactic light (DGL)-scattered starlight by the interstellar dust. We derive the mean DGL-to-100 µm brightness ratios of 2.1 × 10 −3 and 4.6 × 10 −3 at the two bands, which are roughly consistent with the previous observations toward denser dust regions. Extended red emission in the diffuse interstellar medium is also confirmed.

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“…A detailed description of the observations and of the primary data processing can be found in, e.g., Weinberg et al (1974) and Gordon et al (1998). Using the Pioneer 10 IPP data collected at various heliocentric distances R, Hanner et al (1974) found that the ZL brightness is below the detectable level of the instrument when the spacecraft was at beyond R = 3.26 AU.…”

Section: Observations and Reductionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Far-Ir Galactic Emission Map and Cosmic Optical Background

Matsuoka¹

2012

Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society

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We present new constraints on the cosmic optical background (COB) obtained from an analysis of the Pioneer 10/11 Imaging Photopolarimeter (IPP) data. After careful examination of the data quality, the usable measurements free from the zodiacal light are integrated into sky maps at the blue (∼ 0.44 µm) and red (∼ 0.64 µm) bands. Accurate starlight subtraction was achieved by referring to all-sky star catalogs and a Galactic stellar population synthesis model down to 32.0 mag. We find that the residual light is separated into two components: one component shows a clear correlation with the thermal 100 µm brightness, whilst the other shows a constant level in the lowest 100 µm brightness region. The presence of the second component is significant after all the uncertainties and possible residual light in the Galaxy are taken into account, thus it most likely has an extragalactic origin (i.e., the COB). The derived COB brightness is (1.8 ± 0.9) × 10 −9 and (1.2 ± 0.9) × 10 −9 erg s −1 cm −2 sr −1Å−1 in the blue and red spectral regions, respectively, or 7.9 ± 4.0 and 7.7 ± 5.8 nW m −2 sr −1 . Based on a comparison with the integrated brightness of galaxies, we conclude that the bulk of the COB is comprised of normal galaxies which have already been resolved by the current deepest observations. There seems to be little room for contributions from other populations including "first stars" at these wavelengths. On the other hand, the first component of the IPP residual light represents the diffuse Galactic light (DGL)-scattered starlight by the interstellar dust. We derive the mean DGL-to-100 µm brightness ratios of 2.1 × 10 −3 and 4.6×10 −3 at the two bands, which are roughly consistent with previous observations toward denser dust regions. Extended red emission in the diffuse interstellar medium is also confirmed.

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Background Starlight observed from Pioneer 10

Cited by 42 publications

References 14 publications

Zodiacal light and the asteroid belt: The view from Pioneer 10

Zodiacal light and the asteroid belt: The view from Pioneer 10

Cosmic Optical Background: the view from Pioneer 10/11

Far-Ir Galactic Emission Map and Cosmic Optical Background

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