GALACTIC STRUCTURE FROM THE SPACELAB INFRARED TELESCOPE .1. 2.4 MICRON MAP

The Infrared Telescope (IRT), flown aboard the Space Shuttle as part of the Spacelab-2 mission, scanned a large fraction of the sky at 2.4-mu-m with a resolution of approximately 1-degrees. We present a calibrated map of the Galactic plane in the region -20-degrees < l < 120-degrees and -30-degrees < b < 30-degrees. The photometry is accurate to a surface brightness of mu(K) = 20.0 mag arcsec-2 . Aside from uncertainties in the magnitude zero-point, the data agree quite well with previous maps derived from balloon experiments, except that some systematic differences at high Galactic longitudes are evident. These data will permit more extensive modeling of the 2.4-mu-m emissivity in the Milky Way than has been possible previously.