Contribution of Extragalactic Infrared Sources to Cosmic Microwave Background Foreground Anisotropy

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Abstract
We estimate the level of confusion to cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy measurements caused by extragalactic infrared sources. CMB anisotropy observations at high resolution and high frequencies are especially sensitive to this foreground. We use data from the COBE satellite to generate a Galactic emission spectrum covering millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. Using this spectrum as a template, we predict the microwave emission of the 5319 brightest infrared galaxies seen by IRAS. We simulate sky maps of extragalactic infrared sources over the relevant range of frequencies (30-900 GHz) and instrument resolutions (10'-10° FWHM). An analysis of the temperature anisotropy of these sky maps shows that a reasonable observational window is available for CMB anisotropy measurements.