A Search for Near-Infrared Emission From the Halo of NGC 5907 at Radii of 10 kpc to 30 kpc

We present a search for near-infrared (3.5-5 micron) emission from baryonic dark matter in the form of low-mass stars and/or brown dwarfs in the halo of the nearby edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 5907. The observations were made using a 256 by 256 InSb array with a pixel scale of 17" at the focus of a liquid-helium-cooled telescope carried above the Earth's atmosphere by a sounding rocket. In contrast to previous experiments which have detected a halo around NGC 5907 in the V, R, I, J and K bands at galactic radii 6kpc < r < 10kpc, our search finds no evidence for emission from a halo at 10kpc < r < 30kpc. Assuming a halo mass density scaling as r^(-2), which is consistent with the flat rotation curves that are observed out to radii of 32kpc, the lower limit of the mass-to-light ratio at 3.5-5 microns for the halo of NGC 5907 is 250 (2 sigma) in solar units. This is comparable to the lower limit we have found previously for NGC 4565 (Uemizu et al. 1998). Based on recent models, our non-detection implies that hydrogen- burning stars contribute < 15% of the mass of the dark halo of NGC 5907. Our results are consistent with the previous detection of extended emission at r < 10kpc if the latter is caused by a stellar population that has been ejected from the disk because of tidal interactions. We conclude that the dark halo of NGC 5907, which is evident from rotation curves that extend far beyond 10kpc, is not comprised of hydrogen burning stars.Comment: 12 pages, LateX, plus 6 ps figures. Accepted by ApJ. minor changes, added references, corrected typo

Rocketborne instrument to search for infrared emission from baryonic dark matter in galactic halos

We describe the design and performance of the near IR telescope experiment (NITE), a rocket-borne instrument designed to search for IR emission from baryonic dark matter in the halos of nearby edge-on spiral galaxies. A 256 X 256 InSb array at the focus of a 16.5 cm liquid-helium- cooled telescope achieves near-background-limited sensitivity in a 3.5-5.5 micrometers waveband where the local foreground from zodiacal emission is at a minimum. This experiment represents the first scientific application of a low-background IR InSb array, a precursor to the InSb arrays intended for SIRTF, in a space-borne observation. We describe the flight performance of the instrument and preliminary scientific result from an observation of NGC 4565

Rocketborne instrument to search for infrared emission from baryonic dark matter in galactic halos

We describe the design and performance of the near IR telescope experiment (NITE), a rocket-borne instrument designed to search for IR emission from baryonic dark matter in the halos of nearby edge-on spiral galaxies. A 256 X 256 InSb array at the focus of a 16.5 cm liquid-helium- cooled telescope achieves near-background-limited sensitivity in a 3.5-5.5 micrometers waveband where the local foreground from zodiacal emission is at a minimum. This experiment represents the first scientific application of a low-background IR InSb array, a precursor to the InSb arrays intended for SIRTF, in a space-borne observation. We describe the flight performance of the instrument and preliminary scientific result from an observation of NGC 4565

The Cosmic Infrared Background Experiment

We are developing a rocket-borne instrument (the Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRiment, or CIBER) to search for signatures of primordial galaxy formation in the cosmic near-infrared extra-galactic background. CIBER consists of a wide-field two-color camera, a low-resolution absolute spectrometer, and a high-resolution narrow-band imaging spectrometer. The cameras will search for spatial fluctuations in the background on angular scales from 7 arcseconds to 2 degrees over a range of angular scales poorly covered by previous experiments. CIBER will determine if the fluctuations reported by the IRTS arise from first-light galaxies or have a local origin. In a short rocket flight CIBER has sensitivity to probe fluctuations 100 times fainter than IRTS/DIRBE. By jointly observing regions of the sky studied by Spitzer and ASTRO-F, CIBER will build a multi-color view of the near-infrared background, accurately assessing the contribution of local (z = 1-3) galaxies to the observed background fluctuations, allowing a deep and comprehensive survey for first-light galaxy background fluctuations. The low-resolution spectrometer will search for a redshifted Lyman cutoff feature between 0.8 - 2.0 microns. The high-resolution spectrometer will trace zodiacal light using the intensity of scattered Fraunhofer lines, providing an independent measurement of the zodiacal emission and a new check of DIRBE zodiacal dust models. The combination will systematically search for the infrared excess background light reported in near-infrared DIRBE/IRTS data, compared with the small excess reported at optical wavelengths.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures; To appear in proceedings of UC Irvine May 2005 workshop on "First Light & Reionization", eds. E. Barton & A. Cooray, New Astronomy Reviews, in pres

The Far-Infrared Surveyor (FIS) for AKARI

The Far-Infrared Surveyor (FIS) is one of two focal plane instruments on the AKARI satellite. FIS has four photometric bands at 65, 90, 140, and 160 um, and uses two kinds of array detectors. The FIS arrays and optics are designed to sweep the sky with high spatial resolution and redundancy. The actual scan width is more than eight arcmin, and the pixel pitch is matches the diffraction limit of the telescope. Derived point spread functions (PSFs) from observations of asteroids are similar to the optical model. Significant excesses, however, are clearly seen around tails of the PSFs, whose contributions are about 30% of the total power. All FIS functions are operating well in orbit, and its performance meets the laboratory characterizations, except for the two longer wavelength bands, which are not performing as well as characterized. Furthermore, the FIS has a spectroscopic capability using a Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS). Because the FTS takes advantage of the optics and detectors of the photometer, it can simultaneously make a spectral map. This paper summarizes the in-flight technical and operational performance of the FIS.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, and 2 tables. Accepted for publication in the AKARI special issue of the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japa

The cosmic infrared background experiment

The extragalactic background, based on absolute measurements reported by DIRBE and IRTS at 1.2 and 2.2 µm, exceeds the brightness derived from galaxy counts by up to a factor 5. Furthermore, both DIRBE and the IRTS report fluctuations in the near-infrared sky brightness that appear to have an extra-galactic origin, but are larger than expected from local (z = 1–3) galaxies. These observations have led to speculation that a new class of high-mass stars or mini-quasars may dominate primordial star formation at high-redshift (z ~ 10–20), which, in order to explain the excess in the near-infrared background, must be highly luminous but produce a limited amount of metals and X-ray photons. Regardless of the nature of the sources, if a significant component of the near-infrared background comes from first-light galaxies, theoretical models generically predict a prominent near-infrared spectral feature from the redshifted Lyman cutoff, and a distinctive fluctuation power spectrum. We are developing a rocket-borne instrument (the Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRiment, or CIBER) to search for signatures of primordial galaxy formation in the cosmic near-infrared extra-galactic background. CIBER consists of a wide-field two-color camera, a low-resolution absolute spectrometer, and a high-resolution narrow-band imaging spectrometer. The cameras will search for spatial fluctuations in the background on angular scales from 7" to 2°, where a first-light galaxy signature is expected to peak, over a range of angular scales poorly covered by previous experiments. CIBER will determine if the fluctuations reported by the IRTS arise from first-light galaxies or have a local origin. In a short rocket flight CIBER has sensitivity to probe fluctuations 100x fainter than IRTS/DIRBE, with sufficient resolution to remove local-galaxy correlations. By jointly observing regions of the sky studied by Spitzer and ASTRO-F, CIBER will build a multi-color view of the near-infrared background, accurately assessing the contribution of local (z = 1–3) galaxies to the observed background fluctuations, allowing a deep and comprehensive survey for first-light galaxy background fluctuations. The low-resolution spectrometer will search for a redshifted Lyman cutoff feature between 0.8 and 2.0 µm. The high-resolution spectrometer will trace zodiacal light using the intensity of scattered Fraunhofer lines, providing an independent measurement of the zodiacal emission and a new check of DIRBE zodiacal dust models. The combination will systematically search for the infrared excess background light reported in near-infrared DIRBE/IRTS data, compared with the small excess reported at optical wavelengths