Matching Patterns of Light

These images from the Cosmic Infrared Background Experiment, or CIBER, show large patches of the sky at two different infrared wavelengths (1.1 microns and 1.6 microns) after all known galaxies have been subtracted out and the images smoothed to enhance the large structures. CIBER sees similar patterns at different wavelengths, supporting the idea that the light patterns arise from the same source. The CIBER team used multiple rocket flights to carefully account for all of the infrared emissions in our solar system and from the Milky Way to show that the light is coming from outside our own galaxy.

Caltech manages JPL for NASA. The work was supported by NASA, with initial support provided by JPL's Director's Research and Development Fund. Japanese participation in CIBER was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.Korean participation in CIBER was supported by the Korean Astronomy and Space Science Institute.

For more information about CIBER, visit http://ciber.caltech.edu/rocket.html.