Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer
E1036260
cosmic microwave background instrument
far‑infrared spectrometer
space telescope instrument
spectrophotometer
The Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS) was a key instrument on NASA’s COBE satellite designed to precisely measure the spectrum of the cosmic microwave background, confirming its near-perfect blackbody nature.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer canonical | 4 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T13377758 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer Context triple: [Cosmic Background Explorer, instrument, Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer]
-
A.
Near Infrared Spectrometer
The Near Infrared Spectrometer is a scientific instrument designed to analyze the composition and mineralogy of surfaces or atmospheres by measuring their reflected or emitted light in the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum.
-
B.
Infrared Spectrograph
The Infrared Spectrograph is a scientific instrument designed to disperse and analyze infrared light from astronomical objects, enabling detailed studies of their composition, temperature, and physical conditions.
-
C.
Imaging IR Spectrometer
The Imaging IR Spectrometer is a Chandrayaan-2 orbiter instrument designed to map the Moon’s surface composition by measuring reflected and emitted infrared radiation.
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D.
Infrared Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS)
The Infrared Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) is a high-resolution near-infrared imager and spectrograph designed to study faint, distant, and compact astronomical objects with the Thirty Meter Telescope’s adaptive optics system.
-
E.
Mid-Infrared Instrument
The Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) is a key James Webb Space Telescope payload that provides imaging, spectroscopy, and coronagraphy in the mid-infrared range to study cold, distant, and dust-obscured cosmic objects.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer Target entity description: The Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS) was a key instrument on NASA’s COBE satellite designed to precisely measure the spectrum of the cosmic microwave background, confirming its near-perfect blackbody nature.
-
A.
Near Infrared Spectrometer
The Near Infrared Spectrometer is a scientific instrument designed to analyze the composition and mineralogy of surfaces or atmospheres by measuring their reflected or emitted light in the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum.
-
B.
Infrared Spectrograph
The Infrared Spectrograph is a scientific instrument designed to disperse and analyze infrared light from astronomical objects, enabling detailed studies of their composition, temperature, and physical conditions.
-
C.
Imaging IR Spectrometer
The Imaging IR Spectrometer is a Chandrayaan-2 orbiter instrument designed to map the Moon’s surface composition by measuring reflected and emitted infrared radiation.
-
D.
Infrared Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS)
The Infrared Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) is a high-resolution near-infrared imager and spectrograph designed to study faint, distant, and compact astronomical objects with the Thirty Meter Telescope’s adaptive optics system.
-
E.
Mid-Infrared Instrument
The Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) is a key James Webb Space Telescope payload that provides imaging, spectroscopy, and coronagraphy in the mid-infrared range to study cold, distant, and dust-obscured cosmic objects.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (49)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
cosmic microwave background instrument
ⓘ
far‑infrared spectrometer ⓘ space telescope instrument ⓘ spectrophotometer ⓘ |
| abbreviation |
FIRAS
ⓘ
linked to:
Cosmic Background Explorer
|
| associatedAward | 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics ⓘ |
| blackbodyFitQuality | deviations less than parts in 10^5 ⓘ |
| confirmed | near‑perfect blackbody spectrum of the cosmic microwave background ⓘ |
| constrained |
Compton y‑distortion of the CMB
ⓘ
chemical potential (mu) distortions of the CMB ⓘ spectral distortions of the cosmic microwave background ⓘ |
| contributedTo |
establishing the Big Bang model of cosmology
ⓘ
precision determination of the CMB spectrum ⓘ |
| cosmologicalParameterMeasured | CMB monopole temperature ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin |
United States
ⓘ
linked to:
United States of America
|
| dataRelease | COBE FIRAS data products ⓘ |
| dataUsage |
constraints on reionization and structure formation models
ⓘ
tests of early‑universe energy release ⓘ |
| fieldOfView | about 7 degrees ⓘ |
| found | no significant deviation from a perfect blackbody spectrum ⓘ |
| frequencyRange | approximately 30 GHz to 3000 GHz ⓘ |
| fullName | Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer ⓘ |
| hostedBy |
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (project management)
ⓘ
linked to:
Goddard Space Flight Center
|
| launchDate | 1989-11-18 ⓘ |
| launchSite |
Vandenberg Air Force Base
ⓘ
linked to:
Vandenberg Space Force Base
|
| launchVehicle | Delta 5920-8 ⓘ |
| locatedOn |
COBE payload module
ⓘ
linked to:
Cosmic Background Explorer
|
| measuredCMBTemperature | approximately 2.725 K ⓘ |
| measurementType |
absolute spectrophotometry
ⓘ
differential radiometry ⓘ |
| mission |
COBE mission
ⓘ
linked to:
Cosmic Background Explorer
|
| operator | NASA ⓘ |
| primaryObjective |
measure the spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation
ⓘ
test the blackbody nature of the cosmic microwave background ⓘ |
| referenceSource |
external calibrator at controlled temperature
ⓘ
on‑board blackbody calibrators ⓘ |
| scanStrategy | full‑sky coverage over mission lifetime ⓘ |
| scienceDiscipline |
astrophysics
ⓘ
cosmology ⓘ |
| spacecraft |
COBE
ⓘ
linked to:
Cosmic Background Explorer
Cosmic Background Explorer ⓘ |
| spectralResolution | about 0.5 cm^-1 ⓘ |
| status | decommissioned ⓘ |
| teamLead | John C. Mather ⓘ |
| temperatureMeasurementAccuracy | about 0.1 mK relative to a 2.7 K blackbody ⓘ |
| usedTechnique |
Fourier transform spectroscopy
ⓘ
polarizing Michelson interferometer ⓘ |
| verifiedPredictionOf | standard hot Big Bang theory ⓘ |
| wavelengthRange | approximately 0.1 cm to 1 cm ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer Description of subject: The Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS) was a key instrument on NASA’s COBE satellite designed to precisely measure the spectrum of the cosmic microwave background, confirming its near-perfect blackbody nature.
Referenced by (4)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.