Studies of IRAS sources at high galactic latitudes – I. Source counts at $|b|\gt60^\circ$ and evidence for a north–south anisotropy of cosmological significance

Abstract

A study of the IRAS sky at b with an absolute value greater than 60 deg is conducted. Source counts at 12, 25, 60 and 100 microns are presented, and it is shown that emission from interstellar dust at 100 microns is localized to a few small areas of tathe galactic polar caps. At 12 and 25 microns, the sky is dominated by stars; at 60 and 100 microns, by galaxies. Comparison with the minisurvey source counts indicates the 12and 25-micron source denstiy is lower at the present latitude than at a latitude whereby the absolute value of b equals 10-40 deg. Due to the greatly reduced effects of emission from interstellar dust, the 100 micron survey reaches a factor 1.6 deeper in flux at the present latitude than the minisurvey. An anisotropy significant at the 4-sigma level was found between the north and south galactic polar caps at 60 and 100 microns, after exclusion of the Virgo cluster and of the few remaining areas significantly affected by interstellar-dust emission. It is suggested that this anisotropy represents a cosmologically significant anisotropy in the galaxy distribution. The scale of associated inhomogeneity is of the order of at least 100(50/H)Mpc.