The images below are logarithmically scaled versions of comparison images generated for MIPS, SOFIA, ISO, and IRAS. A 35 arcmin test field was "observed" with these four instruments, giving each instrument 24 hours of integration time and taking into account the sensitivity, the plate scale, and the field of view. The IRAS image has very large pixels and is really only capable of detecting the infrared cirrus in this field. The ISO image has better spatial resolution but is limited by the small field-of-view and low sensitivity of the arrays. SOFIA has excellent spatial resolution because of the large (2.5m) telescope but a correspondingly small field-of-view (even with a 32x32 array) and is limited in sensitivity because it uses warm optics. The predicted MIPS performance on the test field is excellent because of the high sensitivity of the detectors, good spatial resolution, and the large field-of-view of the 32x32 array.
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