Nonthermal galactic emission below 10 megahertz

The Radio Astronomy Explorer 2 (RAE 2) lunar-orbiting satellite has provided measurements of the nonthermal galactic radio emission at frequencies below 10 MHz. Measurements of the emission spectra are presented for the center, anticenter, north polar, and south polar directions at 22 frequencies between 0.25 and 9.18 MHz. Survey maps of the spatial distribution of the observed low-frequency Galactic emission at 1.31, 2.20, 3.93, 4.70, 6.55, and 9.18 MHz are presented. The observations were obtained with the 229-m traveling-wave V antenna on this lunar-orbiting spacecraft. The improved frequency coverage offers additional insights into the structure of the local Galactic neighborhood.