A measurement of the low frequency spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation

Abstract

As part of a larger effort to measure the spectrum of the Cosmic Background Radiation (CBR) at low frequencies, the intensity of the CBR has been measured at a frequency of 1.410 GHz. The measurement was made by comparing the power received from the sky with the power received from a specially designed cooled calibration target with known properties. Sources of radiation other than the CBR were then identified and subtracted to calculate the antenna temperature of the CBR at 1.410 GHz. The instrument used to measure the CBR was a total-power microwave radiometer with a 25 MHz bandwidth centered at 1.410 GHz. The radiometer had a noise temperature of 80 K, and sufficient data were taken that radiometer noise did not contribute significantly to the total measurement error. The sources of error were predominantly systematic in nature, and the largest error was due to uncertainty in the reflection characteristics of the cold-load calibrator. Identification and subtraction of signals from the Galaxy (0.7 K) and the Earth's atmosphere (0.8 K) were also significant parts of the data reduction and error analysis. The brightness temperature of the Cosmic Background Radiation at 1.410 GHz is 222. +- 0.55 Kelvin. The spectrum of the CBR, as determined by this measurement and other published results, is consistent with a blackbody spectrum of temperature 2.741 +- 0.016. Constraints on the amount by which the CBR spectrum deviates from Planck spectrum are used to place limits on energy releases early in the history of the universe. 55 refs., 25 figs., 8 tabs.