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Paper: The COBE FIRAS Project Pipeline Software System
Volume: 25, Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems I
Page: 524
Authors: Read, S. M.; Alexander, S.; Bouler, D. B.; Gonzales, N. G.; Jensen, K. A.; Rosen, L. P.; Shuman, F. G.; Wang, H. Y.; Eplee, R. E.; Isaacman, R. B.; Trenholme, A. R.
Abstract: The Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS) on COBE was designed to measure extremely small deviations of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) from a blackbody spectrum. The data, taken by a rapid scan polarizing Michelson interferometer, cover a frequency range of 1 to 100 cm(-1) . Data are taken by four detectors, two at 1 to 20 cm(-1) and two at 20 to 100 cm(-1) , at two stroke lengths and two scan speeds of the mirror transport mechanism. The two low frequency detectors are used for CMBR and cosmological studies. The two high frequency detectors are used for study of the galactic plane. On orbit calibration is performed with a movable, high precision, external blackbody calibrator. The FIRAS Project Pipeline (Figure I) is a complex software system which takes the time ordered, raw interferograms (IFGs) and produces skymap data sets of calibrated spectra. The pipeline software is designed to handle unique problems such as the asynchronous relation of science and engineering data. The software is designed so that intermediate products can be created for analysis and validation purposes.
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