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The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) mission
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1984
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The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) is a spacecraft equipped with a liquid‑helium cryostat that houses a cooled infrared telescope. Its focal‑plane assembly, cooled below 3 K, contains 62 detectors arranged so that each source is seen by at least two detectors in four wavelength bands, and the satellite was launched into a 900 km near‑polar orbit before its cryogen was exhausted on 22 November 1983. By the end of the mission, 72 % of the sky had been surveyed with at least three hours of confirming scans and 95 % with at least two hours, while roughly 2,000 stars were detected at 12 µm and 25 µm with a positional uncertainty ellipse of 45 × 9 arcsec for hours‑confirmed sources. The results were published in The Astrophysical Journal (March 1984) with DOI 10.1086/184209.
view Abstract Citations (1017) References (6) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) mission. Neugebauer, G. ; Habing, H. J. ; van Duinen, R. ; Aumann, H. H. ; Baud, B. ; Beichman, C. A. ; Beintema, D. A. ; Boggess, N. ; Clegg, P. E. ; de Jong, T. ; Emerson, J. P. ; Gautier, T. N. ; Gillett, F. C. ; Harris, S. ; Hauser, M. G. ; Houck, J. R. ; Jennings, R. E. ; Low, F. J. ; Marsden, P. L. ; Miley, G. ; Olnon, F. M. ; Pottasch, S. R. ; Raimond, E. ; Rowan-Robinson, M. ; Soifer, B. T. ; Walker, R. G. ; Wesselius, P. R. ; Young, E. Abstract The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) consists of a spacecraft and a liquid helium cryostat that contains a cooled IR telescope. The telescope's focal plane assembly is cooled to less than 3 K, and contains 62 IR detectors in the survey array which are arranged so that every source crossing the field of view can be seen by at least two detectors in each of four wavelength bands. The satellite was launched into a 900 km-altitude near-polar orbit, and its cryogenic helium supply was exhausted on November 22, 1983. By mission's end, 72 percent of the sky had been observed with three or more hours-confirming scans, and 95 percent with two or more hours-confirming scans. About 2000 stars detected at 12 and 25 microns early in the mission, and identified in the SAO (1966) catalog, have a positional uncertainty ellipse whose axes are 45 x 9 arcsec for an hours-confirmed source. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: March 1984 DOI: 10.1086/184209 Bibcode: 1984ApJ...278L...1N Keywords: Infrared Astronomy Satellite; Satellite-Borne Instruments; Spaceborne Astronomy; Calibrating; Cryogenic Cooling; Data Reduction; Focal Plane Devices; Infrared Telescopes; Spaceborne Telescopes; Astronomy full text sources ADS | data products SIMBAD (3)