Timeline Image Credit

Sky Map (left) as observed by COBE DMR instruments [dipole with Doppler effect], showing both cosmic emissions and emissions from the Milky Way Galaxy, Galactic Emission Map (middle), when dipole is removed, the Milky Way Galaxy dominates, producing a red band, which is the galactic plane, and Cosmic Emission Map (right), with emissions from the Milky Way Galaxy removed, showing the fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background emissions. Cosmic Background Explorer images of earth. http://nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov/anon_dir/cobe/images/dmr/CAPTIONS_DMR_IMG.DOC The

 

Simple Two Map Credit No Sky Map (dipole) Galactic Emission Map (red band though middle) and Cosmic Emission Map (no red band), depicting measurements of primeval fluctuations in the brightness of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, courtesy of the COBE Science Working Group and Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA. Data from Differential Microwave Radiometers (DMR), Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite. Detailed three map credit w/ explanation Maps depicting measurements of primeval fluctuations in the brightness of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation: Sky Map [dipole with Doppler effect] (does not appear on wall chart), Galactic Emission Map [dipole removed] (top), and Cosmic Emission Map [Milky Way Galaxy emissions reduced] (bottom), courtesy of the COBE Science Working Group and Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA. Data from Differential Microwave Radiometers (DMR), Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite. Explanation: The dominant emission component seen in the Sky Map is an artifact of our motion with respect to the CMB. The direction and speed can readily be measured from the data, and the corresponding emission component subtracted. Emission from our own Milky Way Galaxy dominates the resulting Galactic Emission Map. The red band running through the middle of this map corresponds to the Galactic plane, but some Galactic microwave emission is seen even at high Galactic latitudes, well above and below the plane. DMR maps at three microwave wavelengths and independent observations of the gas and dust in the Milky Way were used to model and subtract the Galactic emission, yielding the final Cosmic Emission Map.