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Published June 2014 | Published + Submitted
Journal Article Open

An Atlas of Galaxy Spectral Energy Distributions from the Ultraviolet to the Mid-infrared

Abstract

We present an atlas of 129 spectral energy distributions for nearby galaxies, with wavelength coverage spanning from the ultraviolet to the mid-infrared. Our atlas spans a broad range of galaxy types, including ellipticals, spirals, merging galaxies, blue compact dwarfs, and luminous infrared galaxies. We have combined ground-based optical drift-scan spectrophotometry with infrared spectroscopy from Spitzer and Akari with gaps in spectral coverage being filled using Multi-wavelength Analysis of Galaxy Physical Properties spectral energy distribution models. The spectroscopy and models were normalized, constrained, and verified with matched-aperture photometry measured from Swift, Galaxy Evolution Explorer, Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Two Micron All Sky Survey, Spitzer, and Wide-field Infrared Space Explorer images. The availability of 26 photometric bands allowed us to identify and mitigate systematic errors present in the data. Comparison of our spectral energy distributions with other template libraries and the observed colors of galaxies indicates that we have smaller systematic errors than existing atlases, while spanning a broader range of galaxy types. Relative to the prior literature, our atlas will provide improved K-corrections, photometric redshifts, and star-formation rate calibrations.

Additional Information

© 2014 The American Astronomical Society. Received 2013 December 10; accepted 2014 February 21; published 2014 May 15. We thank Vianney Lebouteiller for responding to our queries about and making improvements to the Cornell Atlas of Spitzer/IRS Sources (CASSIS Lebouteiller et al. 2011). We thank Michelle Cluver for using and providing feedback on a preliminary version of the templates (Cluver et al. 2013, 2014). We also thank Richard Beare, Mark Brodwin, Vassilis Charmandaris, Charlie Conroy, Simon Driver, Peppo Gavazzi, Will Hartley, Erik Hoversten, Hanae Inami, Rob Kennicutt, and Lauranne Lanz for their assistance and feedback as the spectral templates were being developed. Michael Brown acknowledges financial support from The Australian Research Council (FT100100280), the Monash Research Accelerator Program (MRA), and the International Science Linkages Program. Part of the research for this paper was conducted during a visit to the Aspen Center for Physics in 2012 June. Masa Imanishi is supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 22012006). Swift UVOT was designed and built in collaboration between MSSL, PSU, SwRI, Swales Aerospace, and GSFC, and was launched by NASA. GALEX is a NASA Small Explorer, launched in 2003 April. We gratefully acknowledge NASA's support for construction, operation, and science analysis for the GALEX mission, developed in cooperation with the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales of France and the Korean Ministry of Science and Technology. Funding for SDSS-III has been provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Participating Institutions, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science. The SDSS-III Web site is http://www.sdss3.org/. SDSS-III is managed by the Astrophysical Research Consortium for the Participating Institutions of the SDSS-III Collaboration including the University of Arizona, the Brazilian Participation Group, Brookhaven National Laboratory, University of Cambridge, University of Florida, the French Participation Group, the German Participation Group, the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, the Michigan State/Notre Dame/JINA Participation Group, Johns Hopkins University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, New Mexico State University, New York University, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Portsmouth, Princeton University, the Spanish Participation Group, University of Tokyo, University of Utah, Vanderbilt University, University of Virginia, University of Washington, and Yale University. The NASA-Sloan Atlas was created by Michael Blanton, with extensive help and testing from Eyal Kazin, Guangtun Zhu, Adrian Price-Whelan, John Moustakas, Demitri Muna, Renbin Yan, and Benjamin Weaver. Funding for the NASA-Sloan Atlas has been provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data Analysis Program (08-ADP08-0072) and the NSF (AST-1211644). This research is based in part on observations taken with telescopes of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. This publication makes use of data products from the Two Micron All Sky Survey, which is a joint project of the University of Massachusetts and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center/California Institute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation. This research is based in part on observations with Akari, a JAXA project with the participation of ESA. This work is based in part on observations made with the Spitzer Space Telescope, obtained from the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive, both of which are operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Cornell Atlas of Spitzer/IRS Sources (CASSIS) is a product of the Infrared Science Center at Cornell University, supported by NASA and JPL. This publication makes use of data products from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, which is a joint project of the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Facilities: Akari (IRC) - Akari (ASTRO-F), Bok (Boller & Chivens spectrograph) - Steward Observatory 2.3 meter Bok Telescope, CTIO:1.5m (R-C spectrograph) - Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory's 1.5 meter Telescope, CTIO:2MASS - 2MASS Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, FLWO:2MASS - 2MASS Telescope at Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory, GALEX - Galaxy Evolution Explorer satellite, Mayall (MOSAIC-1 wide-field camera) - Kitt Peak National Observatory's 4 meter Mayall Telescope, MMT (Hectospec) - MMT at Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory, Sloan - Sloan Digital Sky Survey Telescope, Spitzer (IRAC, IRS, MIPS) - Spitzer Space Telescope satellite, Swift - Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission, WISE - Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer

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Submitted - 1312.3029v1.pdf

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Created:
August 22, 2023
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October 23, 2023