Media Information
 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
Title:
The Cosmic Infrared Background
Explanation:
What cosmic wallpaper is on the sky? The answer depends on the type of light [ http://imagine.gsfc…] considered, and for some wavelengths [ http://observe.ivv.…], all the cluttering material [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] in the foreground [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] makes it still unknown. Recently, however, the background in near infrared [ http://www.ipac.cal…] light was imaged at high resolution [ http://www.gsfc.nas…] by the 2MASS telescope [ http://pegasus.phas…], and confirmed [ http://adsabs.harva…] earlier estimates [ http://adsabs.harva…] that it is over twice as bright as originally expected. A small section of Cosmic Infrared Background [ http://www.aip.org/…] (CIB) is shown above in representative colors. Visible is light emitted from the very first stars [ http://itss.raytheo…] and galaxies in the universe [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], emitted when the universe [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] was less than half its current age. The CIB is more uniform than the present universe [ http://www.astro.uc…] since stars were more spread out at early times. The brightness of the background [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] indicates that many stars were forming in the universe [ http://space.gsfc.n…] between cosmological redshifts [ http://www.astro.vi…] of one and seven.
Credit and Copyright:
A. Kashlinsky [ http://haiti.gsfc.n…] (SSAI [ http://www.swales.c…]) & S. Odenwald [ http://itss.raytheo…] (Raytheon [ http://www.raytheon…]), 2MASS [ http://www.ipac.cal…], NSF [ http://www.nsf.gov/], NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/]
keyword:
reflection nebula
keyword:
M78
facet_where:
Virginia
facet_where:
Haiti
facet_where:
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_where:
Washington, D.C.
facet_what:
COBE
facet_what:
Pegasus
original url:
http://antwrp.gsfc.…
UID:
SPD-APOD-ap020206

The Cosmic Infrared Background
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