2006/12/01 by Rodger I. Thompson, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Daniel Eisenstein +3 · 68 citations
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysics #CCD and CMOS Imaging Sensors #Cosmic infrared background #Cosmic microwave background #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Flux (metallurgy) #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Hubble Deep Field #Hubble Deep Field South #Hubble Ultra-Deep Field #Optics #Photometric redshift #Physics #Population #Redshift #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/511380
published in The Astrophysical Journal 657(2), 669-680 (IOP Publishing) · Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal
arxiv created 2006/12/01 · openalex publication_date 2007/03/06 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
NICMOS observations of the resolved object fluxes in the Hubble Deep Field-North and the Hubble Ultra Deep Field are significantly below the fluxes attributed to a 1.4-1.8 μm near-infrared background excess (NIRBE) from previous low spatial resolution NIRS measurements. Tests placing sources in the NICMOS image with fluxes sufficient to account for the NIRBE indicate that the NIRBE flux must be either flat on scales greater than 100'' or clumped on scales of several arcminutes to avoid detection in the NICMOS image. A fluctuation analysis of the new NICMOS data shows a fluctuation spectrum consistent with that found at the same wavelength in deep 2MASS calibration images. The fluctuation analysis shows that the majority of the fluctuation power comes from resolved galaxies at redshifts of 1.5 and less and that the fluctuations observed in the earlier deep 2MASS observations can be completely accounted for with normal low-redshift galaxies. Neither the NICMOS direct flux measurements nor the fluctuation analysis require an additional component of near-infrared flux other than the flux from normal resolved galaxies in the redshift range between 0 and 7. The residual fluctuations in the angular range between 1'' and 10'' is 1-2 nW m -2 sr -1 , which is at or above several predictions of fluctuations from high redshift Population III objects, but inconsistent with attributing the entire NIRBE to high-redshift galaxies.