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Cosmic Infrared Background Fluctuations and Zodiacal LightWe performed a specific observational test to measure the effect that the zodiacal light can have on measurements of the spatial fluctuations of the near-IR (near-infrared)background. Previous estimates of possible fluctuations caused by zodiacal light have often been extrapolated from observations of the thermal emission at longer wavelengths and low angular resolution or from IRAC (Infrared Array Camera) observations of high-latitude fields where zodiacal light is faint and not strongly varying with time. The new observations analyzed here target the COSMOS (Cosmic Evolution Survey) field at low ecliptic latitude where the zodiacal light intensity varies by factors of approximately 2 over the range of solar elongations at which the field can be observed. We find that the white-noise component of the spatial power spectrum of the background is correlated with the modeled zodiacal light intensity. Roughly half of the measured white noise is correlated with the zodiacal light, but a more detailed interpretation of the white noise is hampered by systematic uncertainties that are evident in the zodiacal light model. At large angular scales (greater than or approximately equal to 100 arcseconds) where excess power above the white noise is observed, we find no correlation of the power with the modeled intensity of the zodiacal light. This test clearly indicates that the large-scale power in the infrared background is not being caused by the zodiacal light.
Document ID
20170002709
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Arendt, Richard G.
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Kashlinsky, A.
(Science Systems and Applications, Inc. Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Moseley, S. H.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Mather, J.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
March 30, 2017
Publication Date
June 7, 2017
Publication Information
Publication: The Astrophysical Journal
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Volume: 824
Issue: 1
ISSN: 0004-637X
e-ISSN: 1538-4357
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN40842
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNG17PT01A
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNG12PL17C
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
cosmology: observations aEuro" diffuse radiation aEuro" zodiacal dust

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