AbstractThe Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) instrument is a small satellite-borne radio telescope. Its purpose is to make limb-scanning measurements of atmospheric composition. One of the gases to which it is sensitive is carbon monoxide (CO), detected via the J=2→1 rotational transition at 230GHz. CO is present in molecular gas clouds in the Milky Way. Although it was not designed for the purpose, MLS can detect emissions from galactic CO, allowing a map of the 230GHz radio sky to be constructed. We report the MLS measurements of galactic radio emission and discuss their effect on the atmospheric mission of MLS. The region of the Milky Way with emissions strong enough to significantly affect MLS observations of atmospheric CO is identified. Ground-based radio astronomers have been mapping the sky using CO emission for many years. However, the MLS data are the first such survey to be carried out from space. The MLS survey covers a larger area of the sky than any other 230GHz survey, but no previously unknown gas clouds are observed.
An all-sky survey at 230GHz by MLS on Aura
Advances in Space Research ; 43 , 3 ; 342-348
2008-11-07
7 pages
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
Galaxy , CO , Radio-astronomy , MLS , Limb-sounding , Stratosphere
NTRS | 2019
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|NTIS | 2004
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