Galactic Cirrus and Zodiacal Light


60K 50AU Dyson shell

\Large B_{\nu}(\lambda) = \LARGE { { 2 h c } \over { \lambda^3 \left( e^{ h c / \lambda k T } - 1 \right) } } = { { 4e19 ~ Jy / sr ~ {\mu}m^3 } \over { \lambda^3 \left( e^{ 240 {\mu} m / \lambda } - 1 \right) } }

This is for an infinite resolution imager - at large distances, the power is the image angular area divided by the pixel angular area. This scales the intensity way down for distant Dyson shells. If the ratio of shell intensity to background is F , the pixel size in arcseconds is px , the shell radius in AU is r , and the distance in parsecs is R , then the angular size A is:

A ~ = ~ \pi ( r / R )^2

F ~ = ~ px^2 / A = ( px ~ R / r ) ^2 / \pi

R ~ = ~ ( 50 / px ) \sqrt{ \pi F }

px is 90" (90 arcseconds) for IRAS, 12" for WISE, and .11" for JWST so

R ~ = ~ 0.98 \sqrt{ F } for IRAS, 2.7 \sqrt{ F } for WISE, and 28 \sqrt{ F } for JWST. However, only IRAS has sensors for wavelengths longer than 25 μm.


attachment:cobeslide12.jpg

WHAT IS THE SCALE??? from http://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/product/cobe/cobe_image_table.cfm

The zodiac is highly inclined compared to the galaxy, but these plots show it intersecting near galactic center. This is fortunate if true - we are unlikly to distinguish a Dyson shell where the background is very dense (too confusing) or very thin (radially outwards, fewer candidates).

attachment:Ellisfig58b.jpg

Band(um)

12μm

25μm

60μm

100μm

frequency

25 THz

12 THz

5 THz

3 THz

Z nW/m2-sr

2800

1800

190

42

Z Jy-sr

1.12e7

1.5e7

3.8e6

1.4e6

C nW/m2-sr

4.8

2.3

3.2

13

C Jy-sr

1.9e4

1.9e4

6.4e4

4.3e5

D Jy-sr

4.8e7

1.7e11

3.5e12

4.0e12

D/(C+Z)

4.3

1.1e4

9.1e5

2.2e6

we will probably ignore zodiacal measurements

F=D/C

2.5e3

8.9e6

5.5e7

9.3e6

assume measurements in galactic plane

R IRAS pc

49

2900

7000

3000

R WISE pc

135

8000

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R JWST pc

1400

84000

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