KEYWORDS: Galactic astronomy, Databases, Stars, Sensors, Calibration, Temperature metrology, Field emission displays, Surface conduction electron emitter displays, Data analysis, Far infrared
The ISOPHOT C200 stressed Ge:Ga array aboard the Infrared Space Observatory was used to carry out scientific observations while the telescope was moved from one target to the next. These strip scanning measurements of the sky in the far-infrared (FIR) at 170 μm comprise the ISOPHOT Serendipity Survey, the first slew survey designed as an integral part of a space observatory mission. The ISOPHOT Serendipity Survey is the only large scale sky survey in the unexplored wavelength region beyond the IRAS 100 μm limit to date. Within nearly 550 hours more than 12000 slew measurements with a total slew length of more than 150000 degrees were collected, corresponding to a sky coverage of about 15%. The slew data analysis has been focused on the detection of compact sources, which required the development of special algorithms. A severe problem at 170 μm is the confusion of genuine compact sources with foreground galactic cirrus knots and ridges. The selection and identification of objects therefore necessarily requires a multi-wavelengths approach, which makes use of a broad variety of additional data from databases and other surveys. Known galaxies were identified by cross-correlating the Serendipity Survey source positions with galaxy entries in the NED and Simbad databases and a subsequent cross-check of optical images from the Digital Sky Survey. A large catalogue with 170 μm fluxes for ≈2000 galaxies is being complied. The particularly interesting rare galaxies with very cold dust and very large dust masses further require additional FIR data from the IRAS survey as well as measured redshifts. A large fraction of the compact galactic structures are prestellar cores inside cold star forming regions. Early stages of medium and high mass star forming regions are identified by combining compact bright and cold Serendipity Survey sources with the near-infrared 2MASS and MSX surveys, the combination of which indicates large dust masses in conjunction with embedded young stars of early spectral types. In all the studied samples of different object classes the 170 μm flux provides the crucial data point for a complete characterization of the FIR spectral energy distributions and the derivation of total dust masses. Follow-up observations are underway to study selected objects in more detail.
The imaging photopolarimeter ISOPHOT on-board the European satellite ISO houses 144 background detectors of Si:Ga, Si:P, Ge:Ga and stressed Ge:Ga, all sampled by newly developed cold read-out electronics. There is large temporal radiation damage to most of these detectors on the daily passage through the earth's radiation belts. In addition the Ge:Ga detectors exhibit a continuous responsivity increase caused by the cosmic radiation far off the earth. Effective curing procedure shave been developed to heat out these effects. The in-flight sensitivities achieved are close to the pre-flight predictions for most channels. At 100-200 micrometers cirrus confusion is a serious limit for the detection of faint objects on large parts of the sky. The cold filter wheel carrying 56 optical elements, such as filters, apertures and polarizers, as well as the focal plane chopper, operate with high precision and very low power consumption. Due to an effective cold internal baffle system the measured near-field straylight was close to the pre- flight theoretical prediction based on APART simulations. THe sun and moon straylight at 25 and 175 micrometers was measured during several solar eclipses. Drift and transients of the detectors, non-linearities of the preamplifiers, ionizing radiation effects and a complex optical path make the photometric calibration of this instrument challenging. Because most of these effects are reproducible, a calibration accuracy of < 30 percent is already available for most photometric modes. Examples of observations, including the 175 micrometers Serendipitous Sky Survey, will highlight the capabilities of the instrument.
Measurements were performed to verify the straylight suppression in the IR Space Observatory telescope using the ISOPHOT instrument. These test comprised the near-field straylight by bright stars and planets as well as the far- field straylight by the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon. No significant straylight above the specifications reflecting the astronomical needs for low surface brightness absolute sky measurements could be detected at 25 and 170 micrometers . In some cases comparison to preflight straylight simultaneous were possible. The consistency of the predictions from the models with the measurement results confirms the reasonable assumptions made for the simulations. This will allow to further optimize the telescope design for future low background IR space telescopes.
Manfred Stickel, Dietrich Lemke, Stefan Bogun, Ulrich Klaas, M. Kunkel, L. Toth, Stephan Hotzel, Uwe Herbstmeier, Martin Kessler, Rene Laureijs, Martin Burgdorf, Charles Beichman, Michael Rowan-Robinson, A. Efstathiou, Gotthard Richter, M. Braun
KEYWORDS: Sensors, Galactic astronomy, Calibration, Software development, Data analysis, Databases, Space telescopes, Signal detection, Signal to noise ratio, Far infrared
The ISOPHOT Serendipity Survey utilizes the slew time between ISO's pointed observations with strip scanning measurements of the sky in the far-IR at 170 micrometers . The slews contain information about two fundamentally different types of objects, namely unresolved galactic and extragalactic far-IR sources as well as extended regions of galactic cirrus emission. Since the structure of the obtained data is almost unique, the development of dedicated software to extract astrophysically interesting parameters for the crossed sources is mandatory. Data analysis is currently in its early stages and concentrates on the detection of point sources. First results from an investigation of a high galactic latitude field near the North Galactic Pole indicate that the detection completeness with respect to previously known IRAS sources will be almost 100 percent for sources with f(subscript 100micrometers > 2 Jy, dropping below approximately equals 50 percent for f(subscript 100micrometers < 1.5 Jy. Nevertheless, even faint sources down to a level of f(subscript 170micrometers approximately equals 1 Jy can be detected. Since the majority of the detected point sources are galaxies, the Serendipity Survey will result in a large database of approximately equals 2000 galaxies.
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