NSSDCA ID: 1989-089A-02
Mission Name: COBEThe diffuse IR background experiment (DIRBE) consists of a cryogenically cooled (to 2 deg K) multiband radiometer used to investigate diffuse infrared radiation from 1 to 300 micrometers. The instrument measures the absolute flux in 10 wavelength bands with a 1-deg field of view pointed 30 deg off the spin axis. Detectors (photoconductors) and filters for the 8 to 100 micrometer channels are the same as for the IRAS mission. Bolometers are used for the longest wavelength channel (120 to 300 micrometers). The DIRBE sensitivity will be better than 2E-12 W/(sq cm-sr) in channels 1 to 3. Channels 4 to 8 will reach 6E-13 while channels 9 and 10, with their less sensitive bolometers but larger etendue, will reach 4E-12. These limits are achievable with existing detectors cooled to near the cryostat temperature of 1.6 deg K. The telescope is a well baffled, off-axis, Gregorian flux collector with re-imaging. The instrument weighs approximately 34 kg, uses 100 W and has a data rate of 1700 bps.
Mass: 14 kg
Power (avg): 100 W
Bit rate (avg): 1.7 kbps
Questions and comments about this experiment can be directed to: Coordinated Request and User Support Office
Name | Role | Original Affiliation | |
---|---|---|---|
Dr. Samuel Gulkis | Other Investigator | NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory | samuel.gulkins@jpl.nasa.gov |
Dr. John C. Mather | Other Investigator | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | john.c.mather@nasa.gov |
Dr. Rainer Weiss | Other Investigator | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | weiss@ligo.mit.edu |
Dr. George F. Smoot, III | Other Investigator | Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories | smoot@astra.lbl.govsmoot@cosmos.lbl.gov |
Dr. David T. Wilkinson | Other Investigator | Princeton University | |
Dr. Michael G. Hauser | Principal Investigator | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | hauser@stsci.edu |