Observations of the cosmic microwave background and galactic foregrounds at 12-17 GHz with the COSMOSOMAS experiment

We present the analysis of the first 18 months of data obtained with the COSMOSOMAS (COSMOlogical Structures On Medium Angular Scales) experiment at the Teide Observatory (Tenerife). Three maps have been obtained at 12.7, 14.7 and 16.3 GHz covering 9000 deg(2) each with a resolution of similar to 1 degrees and with sensitivities 49, 59 and 115 mu K beam(-1), respectively. These data in conjunction with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) first year maps have revealed that the cosmic microwave background (CMB) is the dominant astronomical signal at high galactic latitude (vertical bar b vertical bar > 40 degrees) in the three COSMOSOMAS channels with an average amplitude of 29.7 +/- 1.0 mu K (68 per cent c.l. not including calibration errors). This value is in agreement with the predicted CMB signal in the COSMOSOMAS maps using the best-fitting Lambda-CDM model to the WMAP power spectrum. Cross-correlation analysis of the 408-MHz map and the COSMOSOMAS data at high galactic latitudes give values in the range 17.0-14.4 mu K from 12.7 to 16.3 GHz. Removing detected point sources in this template, reduces the amplitude of the correlated signal to 8-9 mu K. The mean spectral index of the correlated signal between the 408 MHz desourced and the COSMOSOMAS maps is between -3.20 and -2.94 at vertical bar b vertical bar > 40 degrees which indicates that this signal is due to synchrotron emission. Cross-correlation of COSMOSOMAS data with the Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) map at 100 mu m shows the existence of a common signal with amplitude 7.4 +/- 1.1, 7.5 +/- 1.1 and 6.5 +/- 2.3 mu K in the 12.7, 14.7 and 16.3 GHz COSMOSOMAS maps at vertical bar b vertical bar > 30 degrees. Using the WMAP data, we find this DIRBE correlated signal rises from high to low frequencies flattening below similar to 20 GHz. At higher galactic latitudes the average amplitude of the correlated signal with the DIRBE maps decreases slightly. The frequency behaviour of the COSMOSOMAS/WMAP correlated signal with DIRBE is not compatible with the expected tendency for thermal dust. A study of the H alpha emission maps do not support free-free as a major contributor to that signal. Our results provide new evidence of a Galactic foreground with properties compatible with predictions by spinning dust models.