Bibcode
DOI
Cohen, Martin; Megeath, S. T.; Hammersley, Peter L.; Martín-Luis, Fabiola; Stauffer, John
Bibliographical reference
The Astronomical Journal, Volume 125, Issue 5, pp. 2645-2663.
Advertised on:
5
2003
Citations
174
Refereed citations
153
Description
We describe the technique that will be used to develop a set of on-orbit
calibrators for the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) and demonstrate the
validity of the method for stars with spectral types either K0-M0 III or
A0-A5 V. For application to SIRTF, the approach is intended to operate
with all available optical, near-infrared (NIR), and mid-infrared (MIR)
photometry and to yield complete absolute spectra from UV to MIR. One
set of stars is picked from Landolt's extensive network of optical
(UBVRI) calibrators, the other from the Carter-Meadows set of faint IR
standards. Traceability to the ``Cohen-Walker-Witteborn'' framework of
absolute photometry and stellar spectra is assured. The method is based
on the use of either ``supertemplates,'' which represent the intrinsic
shapes of the spectra of K0-M0 III stars from far-UV (1150 Å) to
MIR (35 μm) wavelengths, or Kurucz synthetic spectra for A0-A5 V
stars. Each supertemplate or Kurucz model is reddened according to the
individual star's extinction and is normalized using available
characterized optical photometry. This paper tests our capability to
predict NIR (JHK) magnitudes using supertemplates or models constrained
by Hipparcos/Tycho or precision ground-based optical data. We provide
absolutely calibrated 0.275-35.00 μm spectra of 33 Landolt and
Carter-Meadows optical standard stars to demonstrate the viability of
this technique, and to offer a set of IR calibrators 100-1000 times
fainter than those we have previously published. As an indication of
what we can expect for actual IRAC calibration stars, we have calculated
the absolute uncertainties associated with predicting the IRAC
magnitudes for the faintest cool giant and hot dwarf in this new set of
calibration stars.