The IRAS dust band contribution to the interplanetary dust complex - Evidence seen at 60 and 100 microns

Abstract

We examine the β and γ dust band pairs in images constructed from the 60 and 100 micron wavelength observations in the 30 × 30 arcmin IRAS Zodiacal Observation History File in an attempt to assess the fraction of solar system dust associated with the bands. The α band pair is not separable from the β pair in this data set. The γ pair's surface brightness at 100 μm is too low to allow it to be confidently distinguished from background cirrus, and is much lower than suggested by earlier analyses. Analysis of the cleaner 60 micron data implies that 0.1%-0.5% of the zodiacal dust complex derives from the γ bands, while 0.2%-1.0% of the dust is associated with the β pair