COBE Differential Microwave Radiometers - Preliminary systematic error analysis

Kogut, A.; Smoot, G. F.; Bennett, C. L.; Wright, E. L.; Aymon, J.; Amici, Giovanni De; Hinshaw, G.; Jackson, P. D.; Kaita, Ed; Keegstra, P.; Lineweaver, Charles H.; Loewenstein, K.; Rokke, L.; Tenorio, Luis; Boggess, N. W.; Cheng, E. S.; Gulkis, S.; Hauser, M. G.; Janssen, M. A.; Kelsall, T.; Mather, John C.; Meyer, S. S.; Moseley, S. H.; Murdock, T. L.; Shafer, R. A.; Silverberg, R. F.; Weiss, R.; Wilkinson, D. T.

doi:10.1086/172033

Cited by 59 publications

(39 citation statements)

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“…The detection of large angular scale anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation was first reported by the COBE DMR experiment in 1992 (Smoot et al 1992;Bennett et al 1992;Wright et al 1992;Kogut et al 1992). The initial detection was based only on the first year of flight data.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Band Power Spectra in the [ITAL]COBE[/ITAL] DMR Four-Year Anisotropy Maps

Hinshaw

Banday

Bennett

et al. 1996

The Astrophysical Journal

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103

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We employ a pixel-based likelihood technique to estimate the angular power spectrum of the COBE Differential Microwave Radiometer (DMR) 4 yr sky maps. The spectrum is consistent with a scale-invariant power-law form with a normalization, expressed in terms of the expected quadrupole anisotropy, of Q rmsϪPS͉nϭ1 ϭ 18 H 1.4 K, and a best-fit spectral index of 1.2 H 0.3. The normalization is somewhat smaller than we concluded from the 2 yr data, mainly due to additional Galactic modeling. We extend the analysis to investigate the extent to which the ''small'' quadrupole observed in our sky is statistically consistent with a power-law spectrum. The most likely quadrupole amplitude ranges between 7 and 10 K, depending on the details of Galactic modeling and data selection, but in no case is there compelling evidence that the quadrupole is inconsistent with a power-law spectrum. We conclude with a likelihood analysis of the band power amplitude in each of four spectral bands between ᐉ ϭ 2 and 40, and find no evidence for deviations from a simple power-law spectrum.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Band Power Spectra in the [ITAL]COBE[/ITAL] DMR Four-Year Anisotropy Maps

Hinshaw

Banday

Bennett

et al. 1996

The Astrophysical Journal

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103

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“…A key issue in making observations at such low signal levels is whether systematic errors are likely to provide fundamental limits. A a detailed treatment of the upper limits on residual systematic errors ( [14], [15]) by the DMR team showed convincingly that one could reduce the systematic errors to well below the 10% level in the temperature maps and the 1% level in the power spectrum. This was further enhanced by the cross-correlation of the DMR maps with other results as additional new observations were made.…”

Section: B Ability To Make Observations With Sufficiently Low Systemamentioning

confidence: 99%

COBE observations and results

Smoot¹

1999

Conference on 3K Cosmology

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This paper summarizes the results from the COBE satellite mission. Nine years have passed since the launch of COBE and six years since the announcement of the discovery of cosmic microwave background anisotropies by the COBE DMR instrument. This is still a relatively short time to look back and understand the implications of COBE and the anisotropy discovery; however, this 3K Cosmology Conference provides some context. The Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite has made a major contribution to the field of cosmology and has help create the confidence and high level of interest that propels the field today. Two major CMB observations, the thermal spectrum of the CMB and the CMB anisotropies, plus a host of other observations and conclusions are the basis and a major but not exclusive portion of the legacy of COBE. The recent detection and observation of the cosmic infrared background (CIB) are also part of COBE's major contribution to cosmology.Subject headings: cosmic microwave background -cosmology --artificial satellites, space probes Big Bang only theory to give this precisely thermal (Planckian) spectrum.

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“…For example, the magnetic effect will be largest when mapped in a coordinate system fixed to B EARTH rather than sky coordinates. For those who worry about such things the most important papers associated with COBE's anisotropy detection are the ones describing the systematic error analysis (4,5).…”

Section: Anisotropies At Angles Larger Than 10°: the Cobe Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The microwave background anisotropies: Observations

Wilkinson

1998

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Most cosmologists now believe that we live in an evolving universe that has been expanding and cooling since its origin about 15 billion years ago. Strong evidence for this standard cosmological model comes from studies of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR), the remnant heat from the initial fireball. The CMBR spectrum is blackbody, as predicted from the hot Big Bang model before the discovery of the remnant radiation in 1964. In 1992 the cosmic background explorer (COBE) satellite finally detected the anisotropy of the radiation-fingerprints left by tiny temperature f luctuations in the initial bang. Careful design of the COBE satellite, and a bit of luck, allowed the 30 K f luctuations in the CMBR temperature (2.73 K) to be pulled out of instrument noise and spurious foreground emissions. Further advances in detector technology and experiment design are allowing current CMBR experiments to search for predicted features in the anisotropy power spectrum at angular scales of 1°and smaller. If they exist, these features were formed at an important epoch in the evolution of the universe-the decoupling of matter and radiation at a temperature of about 4,000 K and a time about 300,000 years after the bang. CMBR anisotropy measurements probe directly some detailed physics of the early universe. Also, parameters of the cosmological model can be measured because the anisotropy power spectrum depends on constituent densities and the horizon scale at a known cosmological epoch. As sophisticated experiments on the ground and on balloons pursue these measurements, two CMBR anisotropy satellite missions are being prepared for launch early in the next century.In the standard hot Big Bang cosmological model, cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) is the remnant thermal radiation which dominated the development of the very early universe. Its currently observed properties give us an important means of testing the standard model and of studying physical processes in the universe beyond the reach of our most powerful optical telescopes. Measurements by the cosmic background explorer (COBE) satellite show that the CMBR spectrum between wavelengths of 5 mm and 0.5 mm is the same as that of a blackbody emitter with an accuracy of Ϯ0.01% (1), in surprisingly good agreement with predictions based on the hot Big Bang model. Of secondary interest to cosmology, the CMBR temperature is measured as 2.728 Ϯ 0.004 K. The absence of spectral distortions in the CMBR imposes limits on energy-producing processes in the universe from an age of t Ϸ 1 year to an age of t Ϸ 10 8 years. Another critical test of the standard model is to measure and characterize the CMBR anisotropies expected from density perturbations at t Ϸ 3 ϫ 10 5 years, when the matter becomes neutral and decouples from the thermal radiation for the first time. Theorists predicted CMBR anisotropies of about 1 part in 10 5 (␦T Ϸ 30 K), corresponding to the mass density perturbations needed to seed the mass structure seen in the universe today. In 1992 th...

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COBE Differential Microwave Radiometers - Preliminary systematic error analysis

Cited by 59 publications

References 0 publications

Band Power Spectra in the [ITAL]COBE[/ITAL] DMR Four-Year Anisotropy Maps

Band Power Spectra in the [ITAL]COBE[/ITAL] DMR Four-Year Anisotropy Maps

COBE observations and results

The microwave background anisotropies: Observations

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