Infrared straylight measurements of the ISO telescope

Measurements were performed to verify the straylight suppression in the IR Space Observatory telescope using the ISOPHOT instrument. These test comprised the near-field straylight by bright stars and planets as well as the far- field straylight by the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon. No significant straylight above the specifications reflecting the astronomical needs for low surface brightness absolute sky measurements could be detected at 25 and 170 micrometers . In some cases comparison to preflight straylight simultaneous were possible. The consistency of the predictions from the models with the measurement results confirms the reasonable assumptions made for the simulations. This will allow to further optimize the telescope design for future low background IR space telescopes.