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The Extragalactic Radio BackgroundThe existence of an isotropic component of the high-latitude radio sky has been recognized for nearly fifty years, but has typically been assumed to be Galactic in origin. We use recent radio observations to test whether the observed high-latitude component could originate within either an extended Galactic halo or a more local "bubble" structure. The lack of significant polarization from the isotropic component, combined with the lack of significant correlation with the Galactic far-infrared emission, rule out an origin within the Galaxy. We conclude that an extragalactic origin is the only viable alternative for the bulk of the isotropic high-latitude emission. The extragalactic component is 2-3 times brighter than local (Galactic) emission towards the Galactic poles and is consistent with a power law in frequency with amplitude T(sub r) = 24.1 plus or minus 2.1 K and spectral index beta = -2.599 plus or minus 0.036 evaluated at reference frequency 310 MHz.
Document ID
20110015448
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Kogut, A. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Fixsen, D. J. (Maryland Univ. Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Levin, S. M. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Limon, M. (Columbia Univ. New York, NY, United States)
Lubin, P. M. (California Univ. Santa Barbara, CA, United States)
Seiffert, M. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Singal, J. (Kavli Inst. for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology Menlo Park, CA, United States)
Villela, T. (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espacias Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil)
Wollack, E. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Wuensche, C. A. (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espacias Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
April 25, 2011
Subject Category
Astronomy
Report/Patent Number
GSFC.JA.4836.2011
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: CNPq-308202/2010-4
CONTRACT_GRANT: CNPq-303637/2007-2
CONTRACT_GRANT: CNPq-308113/2010-1
CONTRACT_GRANT: CNPq-310410/2007-0
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.

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