A ballon-borne experiment for observations of the near-infrared cosmological background

Summary We present here a ballon-borne experiment to measure the near-infrared cosmological background in the (1÷5) μm range. The instrument, a liquid helium cooled telescope (250 mm,F/2), was built in the infrared laboratory of Istituto TE.S.R.E./C.N.R.-Bologna (Italy) collaboration with the Haverford College (PA-U.S.A.). It will be launched from the NSBF base of Palestine (Texas-U.S.A.) in May 1989. To speed up publication, the proofs were not sent to the authors and were supervised by the Scientific Committee.