Near- and Far-Infrared Observations of Interplanetary Dust Bands from the COBE Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment
Abstract
Data from the Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) instrument aboard the Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite (COBE) spacecraft have been used to examine the near and far infrared signatures of the interplanetary dust (IPD) bands. Images of the dust band pairs at ecliptic latitudes of +/- 1.4 deg and +/- 10 deg have been produced at DIRBE wavelengths from 1.25 to 100 micrometers. The observations at the shorter wavelengths provide the first evidence of scattered sunlight from particles responsible for the dust bands. It is found that the grains in the bands and those in the smooth IPD cloud have similar spectral energy distributions, suggesting similar compositions and possibly a common origin. The scattering albedos from 1.25 to 3.5 micrometers for the grains in the dust bands and those in the IPD cloud are 0.22 and 0.29, respectively. The 10 deg band pair is cooler (185 +/- 10 K) than the smooth interplanetary dust cloud (259 +/- 10 K). From both parallactic and thermal analyses, the implied location of the grains responsible for the peak brightness of the 10 deg band pair is 2.1 +/- 0.1 AU the Sun A parallactic distance of 1.4 +/- 0.2 AU is found for the peak of the 1.4 deg band pair.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- April 1995
- DOI:
- 10.1086/175470
- Bibcode:
- 1995ApJ...442..662S
- Keywords:
-
- Infrared Astronomy;
- Infrared Imagery;
- Infrared Signatures;
- Infrared Spectra;
- Interplanetary Dust;
- Light Scattering;
- Solar Neighborhood;
- Spaceborne Astronomy;
- Astronomical Spectroscopy;
- Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite;
- Distance;
- Energy Distribution;
- Image Processing;
- Spectrum Analysis;
- Temporal Distribution;
- Astronomy;
- INFRARED: SOLAR SYSTEM;
- INTERPLANETARY MEDIUM