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Spitzer Survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud: Surveying the Agents of a Galaxy's Evolution (SAGE)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2006

M. Meixner
Affiliation:
Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218, USA email: meixner@stsci.edu
K. Gordon
Affiliation:
University of Arizona
R. Indebetouw
Affiliation:
University of Virgina
B. Whitney
Affiliation:
Space Sciences Institute
M. Meade
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin
B. Babler
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin
J. Hora
Affiliation:
Harvard/CfA
U. Vijh
Affiliation:
Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218, USA email: meixner@stsci.edu
S. Srinivasan
Affiliation:
Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218, USA email: meixner@stsci.edu
C. Leitherer
Affiliation:
Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218, USA email: meixner@stsci.edu
M. Sewilo
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin
C. Engelbracht
Affiliation:
University of Arizona
M. Block
Affiliation:
University of Arizona
B. For
Affiliation:
University of Texas
R. Blum
Affiliation:
NOAO/Tucson
W. Reach
Affiliation:
Spitzer Science Center
J-P. Bernard
Affiliation:
CESR
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We are performing a uniform and unbiased imaging survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), using the IRAC and MIPS instruments on board the Spitzer Space Telescope (Spitzer). Meixner et al. (2006) provides an overview of the project and initial results and their Table 1 (repeated here) outlines the survey's salient characteristics. In this project, we are surveying the agents of a galaxys evolution (SAGE), i.e. the interstellar medium (ISM) and stars, and their interaction on the galaxy wide scale of the LMC. Spitzer IRAC and MIPS images provide key insights into the life cycle of matter in a galaxy because the infrared emission from dust grains is an effective tracer of the ISM, star formation, and stellar mass-loss. Three key science goals determined the coverage and depth of the survey. The detection of diffuse ISM with column densities > 1.2×1021 H cm−2 permits detailed studies of dust processes in the ISM. SAGE's point source sensitivity enables a complete census of newly formed stars with masses >3 M that will determine the current star formation rate in the LMC. SAGE's detection of evolved stars with mass loss rates > 10−8 M yr−1 will quantify the rate at which evolved stars inject mass into the ISM of the LMC (Blum et al. 2006). The SAGE data are nonproprietary. The preliminary SAGE catalog of epoch 1 photometry, prepared by the SAGE Team and released to the public on January 3, 2006, contains over 4 million IRAC sources, band merged with 2MASS photometry and over 60,000 MIPS 24 micron sources. Preliminary estimates indicate that foreground Milky Way stars and background galaxies may comprise as much as 18% and 12%, respectively, of these catalogs. To learn more about the SAGE project: http://sage.stsci.edu/.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2007

References

Meixner, M., Gordon, K., Indebetouw, R. et al. 2006, AJ 132, 2268CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blum, B., Mould, J.R., Olsen, K.A. et al. 2006, AJ 132, 2034CrossRefGoogle Scholar