New Synoptic Observations of the Cosmic Optical Background with New Horizons
arxiv(2024)
Abstract
We obtained New Horizons LORRI images to measure the cosmic optical
background (COB) intensity integrated over
0.4≲λ≲0.9 μ m. The survey comprises 16 high
Galactic-latitude fields selected to minimize scattered diffuse Galactic light
(DGL) from the Milky Way galaxy, as well as scattered light from bright stars.
This work supersedes an earlier analysis based on observations of one of the
present fields. Isolating the COB contribution to the raw total sky levels
measured in the fields requires subtracting the remaining scattered light from
bright stars and galaxies, intensity from faint stars within the fields fainter
than the photometric detection-limit, and the DGL foreground. DGL is estimated
from Planck HFI 350 μ m and 550 μ m intensities, using a
new self-calibrated indicator based on the 16 fields augmented with eight
additional DGL calibration fields obtained as part of the survey. The survey
yields a highly significant detection (6.8σ) of the COB at 11.16± 1.65 (1.47 sys, 0.75 ran) nW m^-2 sr^-1 at the LORRI pivot
wavelength of 0.608 μm. The estimated integrated intensity from background
galaxies, 8.17± 1.18 nW m^-2 sr^-1, can account for the great
majority of this signal. The rest of the COB signal, 2.99±2.03
(1.75 sys, 1.03 ran) nW m^-2 sr^-1, is formally classified as
anomalous intensity but is not significantly different from zero. The simplest
interpretation is that the COB is completely due to galaxies.
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