文档介绍：Adv. Space Res. Vol. 13, No. 12, pp. (12)409—(12)423, 1993 0273—1177/93 $ +
Printed in Great Britain. 1993 COSPAR
SCIENTIFIC RESULTS FROM COBB
C. L. t,* N. W. Boggess,* E. S. Cheng,* M. G. Hauser,*
T. Kelsall,* J. C. Mather, S. H. Moseley, Jr.,* T. L. Murdock,**
R. A. Shafer,* R. F. Silverberg,* G. F. Smoot,*** R. Weissi’ and
E. L. Wrightl
* NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code685, Greenbelt, MD20771, USA
** General Research Corporation, 5 Cherry Hill Drive, Danvers, MA01923,
USA
*** Building 50-351, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories, Berkeley, CA 94720,
USA
J~MITDepartment ofPhysics, Room 20F-001, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
~Astronomy Department, UCL, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA
ABSTRACT
NASA’s Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE’) carries three scientific instruments to make
precise measurements of the spectrum and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background (CMB)
radiation on angular scales greater than 7°and to conduct a search for a diffuse cosmic infrared
background (CIB) radiation with ° angular resolution. Data from the Far-InfraRed Absolute
Spectrophotometer (FIRAS) show that the spectrum of the CMB is that of a blackbody of
temperature T=± K, with no deviation from a blackbody spectrum greater than %
of the peak brightness. The first year of data from the Differential Microwave Radiometers
(DMR) show statistically significant CMB anisotropy. The anisotropy is consistent with a scale
invariant primordial density fluctuation spectrum. Infrared sky brightness measurements from the
Diffuse InfraRed Background Experiment (DIRBE) provide new conservative upper limits to the
CIB. Extensive modeling of solar system aiid galactic infrared foregrounds is required for further
improvement in the CIB limits.
INTRODUCTION TO THE COBE AND MISSION OBJECTIVES
The observables of modern cosmology include the Hubble expansion of the universe; the ages of stars
and clusters; the distribution and streaming motions o