Cosmic microwave background and Galactic quadrupoles in the millimetric region

Abstract

view Abstract Citations (8) References (35) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS Cosmic Microwave Background and Galactic Quadrupoles in the Millimeter Region de Bernardis, Paolo ; Masi, Silvia ; Vittorio, Nicola Abstract We discuss the constraints that a COBE-DMR-like experiment can set on the CMB (Cosmic Microwave Background) quadrupole anisotropy, once that Galactic emission and receiver noise are taken into account. We use a simple model for describing the diffuse emission of our Galaxy at millimeter wavelengths, and we estimate that the minimum Galactic quadrupole occurs at λ ~ 3-4, with an amplitude ~50 micro K. Multi-frequency experiments, such as COBE-DMR, can easily disentangle the Galactic and CMB quadrupoles. We discuss several methods for isolating the CMB quadrupole: its measurement, according to our simulations, turns out to be limited in sensitivity mostly by detector noise and much less by Galactic contamination. At the expected level of sensitivity, COBE should be able to set a very conservative upper limit to the rms CMB quadrupole of ~80 micro K. This upper limit would be fatal for open ({OMEGA} = 0.1 - 0.4) pure baryonic, fully ionized universes, with a primordial spectral index n = - 1. In flat, biased (b ~ 1.5), cold dark matter models, a fraction <~50% of the cosmic observers should detect a CMB quadrupole anisotropy. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: December 1991 DOI: 10.1086/170738 Bibcode: 1991ApJ...382..515D Keywords: Galactic Radiation; Milky Way Galaxy; Relic Radiation; Anisotropy; Astronomical Models; Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite; Cosmic Dust; Dark Matter; Millimeter Waves; Astrophysics; COSMIC BACKGROUND RADIATION; GALAXIES: THE GALAXY; RADIO SOURCES: EXTENDED full text sources ADS |