title: Scientific results from the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE).
abstract: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has flown the COBE satellite to observe the Big Bang and the subsequent formation of galaxies and large-scale structure. Data from the Far-Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS) show that the spectrum of the cosmic microwave background is that of a black body of temperature T = 2.73 +/- 0.06 K, with no deviation from a black-body spectrum greater than 0.25% of the peak brightness. The data from the Differential Microwave Radiometers (DMR) show statistically significant cosmic microwave background anisotropy, consistent with a scale-invariant primordial density fluctuation spectrum. Measurements from the Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) provide new conservative upper limits to the cosmic infrared background. Extensive modeling of solar system and galactic infrared foregrounds is required for further improvement in the cosmic infrared background limits.
authors.affiliation: National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Goddard Space Flight Center, Laboratory for Astronomy and Solar Physics, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.forename: N W
authors.initials: NW
authors.lastname: Boggess
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Hauser
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kelsall
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Mather
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Moseley
authors.forename: T L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Murdock
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Shafer
authors.forename: R F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Silverberg
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Smoot
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Wright