The Catalog
The Ames Background Interstellar Medium catalog is a collection of off-order extracted, low-resolution, 5-15 μm Spitzer-IRS spectra. To avoid the crowded Milky Way, the spectra probe regions outside a one-degree exclusion zone around the galactic plane. Observations consist of IRS-staring observations with both SL1 and SL2 data and either having a ramp time of 60 or 240 seconds to ensure enough exposure to detect the weak emission associated with the background ISM. The total number of observations is 3294; with 2813 and 481 having a 60- and 240-seconds ramp time, respectively.
Positions of the Spitzer-IRS staring observations in the catalogue overlain on a GAIA all-sky color image. Some well-known constellations are indicated as well. Acknowledgement: Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC); A. Moitinho / A. F. Silva / M. Barros / C. Barata, University of Lisbon, Portugal; H. Savietto, Fork Research, Portugal. Left: All staring observations.
The Spectra
The CUPID software tool at version 2.0 was used to generate Basic Calibrated Data (BCD), taking into account different pointings—traced by the CLNUMPOS FITS header keyword—in a single observation. BCDs were created both with and without using the pipeline’s default dark subtraction. BCDs for a total of 4,090 positions were obtained, where those having multiple pointings and those only containing peak-up data were taken into account. Spectra were extracted from the BCDs using the The CUbe Builder for IRS Spectra Maps (CUBISM) tool. CUBISM was modified to allow automation of the process. Spectra were extracted using a 24x2 window in the off-order position and saved to disk using the IPAC table format.
Slit layout of the Infrared Spectrograph onboard Spitzer and the utilized extraction apertures.
Complementary Data
The spectroscopic data are augmented with statistical representations for E(B-V), IRAS100 μm emission, and the dust temperature as retrieved from the Galactic Dust Reddening and Extinction service at IPAC. This information is for a region covering 5 degrees on the sky. Here, the values at the reference pixel (RefPixel) are used. In addition, WISE 12 micron measurements are included, where the 430 8,000x8,000-pixel 'cleaned' tiles covering the entire sky were obtained and the 12 μm flux and standard error are computed over a 3-pixel circular aperture. These data can been downloaded separately in IPAC table format using the link below and also includes parameters derived directly from the spectra by Boersma+ (in prep.).
download complementary data [2.45 MB]
Citation
Boersma, C., Bregman, J.D., Allamandola, L.J., 2023, "The Background Interstellar Medium As Probed by Spitzer", The Astrophysical Journal, in progress
Christiaan Boersma 2022-2024