Editing Cosmic Background Explorer (section)

=== DIRBE ===
{{Main|Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment}}
[[File:COBE galactic disk.PNG|thumb|upright=1.0|right|Model of the Galactic disk as seen edge-on from Earth's position.]]

On top of the findings DIRBE had on galaxies, it also made two other significant contributions to science.<ref name=sodroski/> The DIRBE instrument was able to conduct studies on [[interplanetary dust]] (IPD) and determine if its origin was from asteroid or cometary particles. The DIRBE data collected at 12, 25, 50 and 100 μm were able to conclude that grains of [[asteroid]]al origin populate the IPD bands and the smooth IPD cloud.<ref name=spiesman>{{cite journal |author1=Spiesman, W. J. |author2=M. G. Hauser |author3=T. Kelsall |author4=C. M. Lisse |author5=S. H. Moseley Jr. |author6=W. T. Reach |author7=R. F. Silverberg |author8=S. W. Stemwedel |author9=J. L. Weiland |name-list-style=amp |date=1995 |title=Near and far-infrared observations of interplanetary dust bands from the COBE Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment |bibcode=1995ApJ...442..662S |journal=Astrophysical Journal |volume=442 |issue=2 |page=662 |doi=10.1086/175470 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

The second contribution DIRBE made was a model of the [[Galactic disk]] as seen edge-on from our position. According to the model, if the Sun is 8.6 [[Parsec|kpc]] from the [[Galactic Center]], then it is 15.6% above the midplane of the disk, which has a radial and vertical scale lengths of 2.64 and 0.333 kpc, respectively, and is warped in a way consistent with the HI layer. There is also no indication of a thick disk.<ref name=freudenreich>{{cite journal |author=Freudenreich, H. T. |date=1996 |title=The shape and color of the galactic disk |bibcode=1996ApJ...468..663F |journal=Astrophysical Journal |volume=468 |pages=663–678 |doi=10.1086/177724 |doi-access=free}} See also {{cite journal |author=Freudenreich, H. T. |date=1997 |title=The shape and color of the galactic disk: Erratum |bibcode=1997ApJ...485..920F |journal=Astrophysical Journal |volume=485 |issue=2 |page=920 |doi=10.1086/304478 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

To create this model, the IPD had to be subtracted out of the DIRBE data. It was found that this cloud, which as seen from Earth is [[Zodiacal light]], was not centered on the Sun, as previously thought, but on a place in space a few million kilometers away. This is due to the gravitation influence of [[Saturn]] and [[Jupiter]].<ref name=leverington/>