Upper limit on the extragalactic background light

Dube, R. R.; Wickes, W. C.; Wilkinson, D. T.

doi:10.1086/157292

Cited by 77 publications

(55 citation statements)

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“…These values are 2-7 times as high as the original BFM02 estimates. Clearly, such high EBL values are in conflict with the upper limits of $ð4:5 9Þ Â 10 À9 ergs s À1 cm À2 sr À1 Å À1 as derived by Dube, Wickes, & Wilkinson (1979), Toller (1983), and Mattila (1990) at 4000-5100 Å . (5) BFM02 give for their mean EBL intensities the 1 combined statistical and systematic uncertainties of AE2.5, AE1.4, and AE1:0 Â 10 À9 ergs s À1 cm À2 sr À1 Å À1 at 3000, 5500, and 8000 Å , respectively.…”

Section: The Resulting Ebl Estimates and Their Errorsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Has the Optical Extragalactic Background Light Been Detected?

Mattila

2003

ApJ

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A critical discussion is presented of the data analysis applied by Bernstein, Freedman, & Madore in 2002 to their measurement of the extragalactic background light. There are questionable assumptions in the analysis of the ground-based observations of the zodiacal light. The modeling of the diffuse Galactic light is based on an underestimated value of the dust column density along the line of sight. Comparison with the previously presented results from the same observations reveals a puzzling situation: in spite of a large difference in the atmospheric scattered-light corrections, the derived extragalactic background light values are exactly the same. The claim of the paper of a '' detection of the extragalactic background light '' appears premature.

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Section: The Resulting Ebl Estimates and Their Errorsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Has the Optical Extragalactic Background Light Been Detected?

Mattila

2003

ApJ

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“…Most of the early investigations reported upper limits. Dube et al (1979) ingeniously assessed the zodiacal light contribution by measuring the sky brightness in and outside of Fraunhofer lines in the solar spectrum. Lillie (1972) used the Wisconsin Experiment Package (WEP) aboard the Orbiting As-tronomical Observatory 2 (OAO-2) to observe above the atmosphere.…”

Section: Uv-optical Background Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Cosmic Infrared Background: Measurements and Implications

Hauser

Dwek

2001

Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys.

801

817

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ABSTRACT:The cosmic infrared background records much of the radiant energy released by processes of structure formation that have occurred since the decoupling of matter and radiation following the Big Bang. In the past few years, data from the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) mission provided the first measurements of this background, with additional constraints coming from studies of the attenuation of TeV γ-rays. At the same time there has been rapid progress in resolving a significant fraction of this background with the deep galaxy counts at infrared wavelengths from the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) instruments and at submillimeter wavelengths from the Submillimeter Common User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) instrument. This article reviews the measurements of the infrared background and sources contributing to it, and discusses the implications for past and present cosmic processes.

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“…associated with the EBL), it might be attributed to emission by the first stars in the history of the universe (Population III) and would make the EBL and its structure a unique probe of the epoch of Population III formation and evolution (Mapelli et al 2004;Kashlinsky et al 2005). Such a luminous Population III star generation, however, over-predicts the number of Ly-α emitters in ultra-deep field searches (Salvaterra & Ferrara 2006) Edelstein et al (2000) (grey filled triangle), Martin et al (1991) (open pink circle), Brown et al (2000) (filled pink triangle), Mattila (1990) (open green triangle), Toller (1983) /Leinert et al (1998) (open green square), Dube et al (1979) /Leinert et al (1998) (open green diamond); Tentative detection in the UV/optical: Bernstein et al (2002Bernstein et al ( , 2005 (filled red circle); Lower limits from source counts: Madau & Pozzetti (2000) (open grey triangles), Fazio et al (2004) (open blue triangles), Elbaz et al (2002) (green cross), Metcalfe et al (2003) (red ×), Papovich et al (2004) (filled red triangle), Dole et al (2006) (filled pink triangles), Frayer et al (2006) (open red triangle); detections in the near IR: Dwek & Arendt (1998) (open pink cross), Gorjian et al (2000) (filled brown circle), Wright & Reese (2000) (open blue squares), Cambrésy et al (2001) (filled brown squares), Matsumoto et al (2005) (small open grey circles), Levenson et al (2007) (open blue circles); upper limits from direct measurements: Hauser et al (1998) (filled green triangles), Dwek & Arendt (1998) (filled pink triangles), Lagache & Puget (2000) (filled blue triangles); upper limits from fluctuation analysis: Kashlins...…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New limits on the density of the extragalactic background light in the optical to the far infrared from the spectra of all known TeV blazars

Mazin¹,

Raue²

2007

A&A

220

271

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Aims. The extragalactic background light (EBL) in the ultraviolet to far-infrared wavelength region carries important information about galaxy and star formation history. Direct measurements are difficult, especially in the mid infrared region. We derive limits on the EBL density from the energy spectra of distant sources of very high energetic γ-rays (VHE γ-rays). Methods. The VHE γ-rays are attenuated by the photons of the EBL via pair production, which leaves an imprint on the measured spectra from distant sources. So far, there are 14 detected extragalactic sources of VHE γ-rays, 13 of which are TeV blazars. With physical assumptions about the intrinsic spectra of these sources, limits on the EBL can be derived. In this paper we present a new method of deriving constraints on the EBL. Here, we use only very basic assumptions about TeV blazar physics and no pre-defined EBL model, but instead a large number of generic shapes constructed from a grid in EBL density vs. wavelength. In our study we utilize spectral data from all known TeV blazars, making this the most complete study so far.Results. We derive limits on the EBL for three individual TeV blazar spectra (Mkn 501, H 1426+428, 1ES 1101-232) and for all spectra combined. Combining the results from individual spectra leads to significantly stronger constraints over a wide wavelength range from the optical (∼ 1 µm) to the far-infrared (∼ 80 µm). The limits are only a factor of 2 to 3 above the absolute lower limits derived from source counts. In the mid-infrared our limits are the strongest constraints derived from TeV blazar spectra so far over an extended wavelength range. A high density of the EBL around 1 µm, reported by direct detection experiments, can be excluded. Conclusions. Our results can be interpreted in two ways. (i) The EBL is almost resolved by source counts, leaving only a little room for additional components, such as the first stars, or (ii) the assumptions about the underlying physics are not valid, which would require substantial changes in the standard emission models of TeV blazars.

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Upper limit on the extragalactic background light

Cited by 77 publications

References 0 publications

Has the Optical Extragalactic Background Light Been Detected?

Has the Optical Extragalactic Background Light Been Detected?

The Cosmic Infrared Background: Measurements and Implications

New limits on the density of the extragalactic background light in the optical to the far infrared from the spectra of all known TeV blazars

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