AN ALL-SKY SAMPLE OF INTERMEDIATE-MASS STAR-FORMING REGIONS

We present new criteria for selecting HII regions from the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) Point Source catalogue (PSC), based on an HII region catalogue derived manually from the all-sky Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). The criteria are used to augment the number of HII region candidates in the Milky Way. The criteria are defined by the linear decision boundary of two samples: IRAS point sources associated with known HII regions, which serve as the HII region sample, and IRAS point sources at high Galactic latitudes, which serve as the non-HII region sample. A machine learning classifier, specifically a support vector machine (SVM), is used to determine the decision boundary. We investigate all combinations of four IRAS bands and suggest that the optimal criterion is log(F$_{\rm 60}$/F$_{\rm 12}$)$\ge$(-0.19$\times$log(F$_{\rm 100}$/F$_{\rm 25}$)+ 1.52), with detections at 60 and 100 micron. This selects 3041 HII region candidates from the IRAS PSC. We find that IRAS HII region candidates show evidence of evolution on the two-colour diagram. Merging the WISE HII catalogue with IRAS HII region candidates, we estimate a lower limit of approximately 10200 for the number of HII regions in the Milky Way.

We present results of near-infrared (NIR) photometric and spectroscopic observations of mid-infrared (MIR) sources that brightened dramatically. Using Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), AKARI, and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) point source catalogs, we found that four sources (IRAS 19574+4941, V2494 Cyg, IRAS 22343+7501, and V583 Cas) significantly brightened at MIR wavelengths over a period of 20–30 yr, depending on an interval between two different observation epoch. Little is known about these sources except V2494 Cyg, which is considered as an FU Orionis star. Our observation clearly resolves IRAS 22343+7501 into four stars (2MASS J22352345+7517076, 2MASS J22352442+7517037, [RD95] C, and 2MASS J22352497+7517113) and the first JHKs photometric data for all four sources are obtained. Two of these stars (2MASS J22352442+7517037 and 2MASS J22352497+7517113) are known as T Tau stars. Our spectroscopic observation reveals that IRAS 19574+4941 is an M-type evolved star and V583 Cas a carbon star. 2MASS J22352345+7517076 is probably a young stellar object, judging from our observation showing that it has a featureless NIR spectrum and also showed dramatic brightening in NIR (about 4 mag in the Ks band). Likely reasons for dramatic brightening in MIR are discussed in this paper.

We present a comparative study of three infrared asteroid surveys based on the size and albedo data from the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), the Japanese infrared satellite AKARI, and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Our study showed that: (i) the total number of asteroids detected with diameter and albedo information with these three surveyors is 138285, which is largely contributed by WISE; (ii) the diameters and albedos measured by the three surveyors for 1993 commonly detected asteroids are in good agreement, and within ±10% in diameter and ±22% in albedo at 1 σ deviation level. It is true that WISE offers size and albedo of a large fraction (> 20%) of known asteroids down to bodies of a few km, but we would suggest that the IRAS and AKARI catalogs compensate for larger asteroids up to several hundred km, especially in the main belt region. We discuss the complementarity of these three catalogs in order to facilitate the use of these data sets for characterizing the physical properties of minor planets.

Debris disks around stars are considered as components of planetary systems. Constraining the dust properties of these disks can give crucial information to formation and evolution of planetary systems. As an all-sky survey, InfRared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) gave great contribution to the debris disk searching which discovered the first debris disk host star (Vega). The IRAS-detected debris disk sample published by Rhee (Rhee et al. 2007) contains 146 stars with detailed information of dust properties. While the dust properties of 45 of them still cannot be determined due to the limitations with the IRAS database (have IRAS detection at 60 μm only). Therefore, using more sensitivity data of Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), we can better characterize the sample stars: for the stars with IRAS detection at 60 μm only, we refit the excessive flux densities and obtain the dust temperatures and fractional luminosities; while for the remaining stars with multi-bands IRAS detections, the dust properties are revised which show that the dust temperatures were overestimated in the high temperature band before. Moreover, we identify 17 stars with excesses at the WISE 22 μm which have smaller distribution of distance from Earth and higher fractional luminosities than the other stars without mid-infrared excess emission. Among them, 15 stars can be found in previous works.

I have examined all InfraRed Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) data relevant to the 173 galactic Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars in an updated catalogue provided by van der Hucht (priv. comm.), including the 13 stars newly discovered by Shara et al. (1991). Using the exact coordinates given in these lists, I have examined the IRAS Point Source Catalog (PSC), the Faint Source Catalog, Faint Source Reject Catalog, and generated 1-dimensional spatial profiles (“ADDSCAN”s), and 2-dimensional full-resolution images (“FRESCO”s). The goal was to assemble the best set of observed IRAS colour indices for different WR types, in particular for known dusty WCL objects. These colour indices define zones in the IRAS colour-colour([12]–[25],[25]–[60]) plane. By searching the PSC for otherwise unassociated sources that satisfy these colours, I have identified potential new WR candidates, too faint to have been recognized in previous optical searches. I have extracted these candidates’ IRAS Low Resolution Spectrometer (LRS) data and compared the spectra with the highly characteristic LRS shape for known dusty WCL stars. Any surviving candidates must now be examined by optical spectroscopy. This work represents a much more rigorous and exhaustive version of the LRS study that identified IRAS 17380-3031 (WR98a) as the first new WR (WC9) star discovered by IRAS (Cohen et al. 1991).

We report the results of our systematic survey for Galactic 6.7 GHz Class II CH3OH maser emission toward a sample of young stellar objects. The survey was conducted with the Shanghai Tianma Radio Telescope (TMRT). The sample consists of 3348 sources selected from the all-sky Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) point-source catalog. We discussed the selection criteria in detail and the detection results of those at high Galactic latitudes (i.e., ) in a previous paper (Yang et al. 2017). Here, we present the results from the survey of those at low Galactic latitudes, i.e., . Of 1875 selected WISE point sources, 291 positions that were actually associated with 224 sources that were detected with CH3OH maser emission. Among them, 32 are newly detected. A majority of the newly detected sources are associated with bright WISE sources. The majority of the detected sources (209/224 = 93.3%) are quite close to the Galactic Plane ( ) and lie on the inner spiral arms with positive local standard of rest velocities. The detection rate and the color–color distribution of our detection are all matched with our anticipation. Combining with detections from previous surveys, we compile a catalog of 1085 sources with 6.7 GHz CH3OH maser emission in our Galaxy.

We present ground-based spectroscopic verification of six Y dwarfs also Cushing et al.), eighty-nine T dwarfs, eight L dwarfs, and one M dwarf identified by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Eighty of these are cold brown dwarfs with spectral types > or =T6, six of which have been announced earlier in Mainzer et al. and I3urgasser et al. We present color-color and colortype diagrams showing the locus of M, L, T, and Y dwarfs in WISE color space. "

In the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) all-sky source catalog there are 76 million mid-infrared point sources that were detected in the first three WISE bands and have association with only one 2MASS near-IR source within 3″. We search for their identifications in the SIMBAD database and find 3.2 million identified sources. Based on these known sources, we establish three criteria for selecting candidate asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars in the Galaxy, which are three defined zones in a color-color diagram, Galactic latitude |b| ≤ 20°, and “corrected" WISE third-band W3c ≤ 11. Applying these criteria to the WISE+2MASS sources, 1.37 million of them are selected. We analyze the WISE third-band W3 distribution of the selected sources, and further establish that W3≤8 is required in order to exclude a large fraction of normal stars from them. We therefore find 0.47 million candidate AGB stars in our Galaxy from the WISE source catalog. Using W3c, we estimate their distances and derive their Galactic distributions. The candidates are generally distributed around the Galactic center uniformly, with 68% (1-σ) of them within approximately 8 kpc. We discuss the idea that optical spectroscopy can be used to verify the C-rich AGB stars in our candidates, and thus a fraction of them (∼10%) will be good targets for the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) survey that is planned to start in fall of 2012.

We present a new catalog of 11,209 O-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars and 7172 C-rich AGB stars in our Galaxy, identifying more AGB stars in the bulge component and considering more visual carbon stars. For each object, we cross-identify the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), AKARI, Midcourse Space Experiment, Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), Two-Micron All-Sky Survey, and American Association of Variable Star Observers counterparts. We present the new catalog in two parts: one is based on the IRAS PSC for brighter or more isolated objects; the other one is based on the ALLWISE source catalog for less bright objects or objects in crowded regions. We present various infrared two-color diagrams (2CDs) for the sample stars. We find that the theoretical dust shell models can roughly explain the observations of AGB stars on the various IR 2CDs. We investigate IR properties of SiO and OH maser emission sources in the catalog. For Mira variables in the sample stars, we find that the IR colors get redder for longer pulsation periods. We also study infrared variability of the sample stars using the WISE photometric data in the last 12 yr: the ALLWISE multiepoch data and the Near-Earth Object WISE Reactivation 2021 data release. We generate light curves using the WISE data at W1 and W2 bands and compute the Lomb–Scargle periodograms for all of the sample stars. From the WISE light curves, we have found useful variation parameters for 3710 objects in the catalog, for which periods were either known or unknown in previous works.

view Abstract Citations (45) References (28) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS The Density Evolution of IRAS Galaxies Fisher, Karl B. ; Strauss, Michael A. ; Davis, Marc ; Yahil, Amos ; Huchra, John P. Abstract We have applied a maximum likelihood test for density evolution to a full-sky redshift survey of 5297 galaxies selected from the data base of the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) and flux-limited at f_v_(60 micron) = 1.2 Jy. We find no evidence for evolution; if the comoving density of galaxies is characterized as evolving proportional to (1 + z)alpha^, we find α = 2 +/- 3 where the quoted error includes both random and systematic components. The random errors in α, of order 2, arise primarily from counting statistics, and are comparable to those found by previous authors. We discuss in detail important systematic errors which decrease the certainty with which we can measure evolution: limited knowledge of the cosmological model, the unknown intrinsic spectral energy distribution of IRAS galaxies from 16 to 140 microns the effect of density fluctuations, a Malmquist-like bias arising from flux errors in the IRAS Point Source Catalog, and possible incompleteness of the sample at high redshifts and low Galactic latitudes. We show that the Malmquist bias could result in a significant overestimation of the evolution rate, especially if the catalog has a flux limit near the completion limit of the Point Source Catalog. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: April 1992 DOI: 10.1086/171196 Bibcode: 1992ApJ...389..188F Keywords: Astronomical Catalogs; Galactic Evolution; Infrared Astronomy Satellite; Red Shift; Sky Surveys (Astronomy); Active Galactic Nuclei; Maximum Likelihood Estimates; Point Sources; Spectral Energy Distribution; Star Formation; Astrophysics; GALAXIES: EVOLUTION; INFRARED: GALAXIES full text sources ADS | data products SIMBAD (1)

We used spectroscopic data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and photometric data from the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) to create a luminosity function of almost 200,000 galaxies in the WISE1 (W1) 3.4-micron band. This was made possible by the highsignal-to-noise ratios of WISE data, which allowed us to create a luminosity function which depended on only the selection function in SDSS. We compared these results with the r-band luminosity function to find that there is a significantly higher luminosity density in the W1band, with j ≈ 6.605 × 10hL Mpc−3 in the infrared W1-band and j ≈ 1.75× 10hL Mpc−3 in the optical r-band. Young, massive stars emit most of their light in optical wavelengths, but contain only a small amount of a galaxy’s stellar mass, contributing a disproportionate amount of light to stellar mass. As a result, the W1-band allows us to get a better estimate of the overall stellar mass, since the galaxy luminosity function in the infrared and near-infrared is less sensitive to recent star formation histories and extinction due to interstellar dust. The color-magnitude diagrams from both bandpasses indicate that the most luminous galaxies are also redder in color.

We present the stellar population and ionized-gas outflow properties of ultraluminous IR galaxies (ULIRGs) at z = 0.1–1.0 that are selected from the AKARI far-IR all-sky survey. We construct a catalog of 1077 ULIRGs to examine feedback effects after major mergers. Of the 1077 ULIRGs, 202 are spectroscopically identified by SDSS and Subaru/FOCAS observations. Thanks to the deeper depth and higher resolution of AKARI compared to the previous Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) survey and reliable identification from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mid-IR pointing, the sample is unique in identifying optically faint (i ∼ 20) IR-bright galaxies, which could be missed in previous surveys. A self-consistent spectrum and broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) decomposition method, which constrains stellar population properties in SED modeling based on spectral fitting results, has been employed for 149 ULIRGs whose optical continua are dominated by host galaxies. They are massive galaxies ( –1012 M ) associated with intense star formation activities (SFR ∼ 200–2000 M yr−1). The sample covers a range of active galactic nucleus (AGN) bolometric luminosity of 1010–1013 L , and the outflow velocity measured from the [O iii] 5007 Å line shows a correlation with AGN luminosity. Eight galaxies show extremely fast outflows with velocity up to 1500–2000 km s−1. However, the coexistence of vigorous starbursts and strong outflows suggests the star formation has not been quenched during the ULIRG phase. By deriving the stellar mass and mass fraction of the young stellar population, we find no significant discrepancies between stellar properties of ULIRGs with weak and powerful AGNs. The results are not consistent with the merger-induced evolutionary scenario, which predicts that star formation–dominated ULIRGs will show smaller stellar masses and younger stellar populations compared to AGN-dominated ULIRGs.

I have examined all Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) data relevant to the 173 Galactic Wolf-Rayet (W-R) stars in an updated catalog, including the 13 stars newly discovered by Shara and coworkers. Using the W-R coordinates in these lists, I have examined the IRAS Point Source Catalog (PSC), the Faint Source Catalog, and the Faint Source Reject Catalog, and have generated one-dimensional spatial profiles, 'ADDSCANs', and two-dimensional full-resolution images, 'FRESCOS'. The goal was to assemble the best set of observed IRAS color indices for different W-R types, in particular for known dusty late-type WC Wolf-Rayet (WCL) objects. I have also unsuccessfully sought differences in IRAS colors and absolute magnitudes between single and binary W-R stars. The color indices for the entire ensemble of W-R stars define zones in the IRAS color-color ([12] - [25], [25] - [60])-plane. By searching the PSC for otherwise unassociated sources that satisfy these colors, I have identified potential new W-R candidates, perhaps too faint to have been recognized in previous optical searches. I have extracted these candidates' IRAS low-resolution spectrometer (LRS) data and compared the spectra with the highly characteristic LRS shape for known dusty WCL stars. The 13 surviving candidates must now be ex amined by optical spectroscopy. This work represents a much more rigorous and exhaustive version of the LRS study that identified IRAS 17380 - 3031 (WR98a) as the first new W-R (WC9) star discovered by IPAS. This search should have detected dusty WCL stars to a distance of 7.0 kpc from the Sun, for l is greater than 30 degrees, and to 2.9 kpc even in the innermost galaxy. For free-free-dominated W-R stars the corresponding distances are 2.5 and 1.0 kpc, respectively.

I have examined all InfraRed Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) data relevant to the 173 galactic Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars in an updated catalogue provided by van der Hucht (priv. comm.), including the 13 stars newly discovered by Shara et al. (1991). Using the exact coordinates given in these lists, I have examined the IRAS Point Source Catalog (PSC), the Faint Source Catalog, Faint Source Reject Catalog, and generated 1-dimensional spatial profiles (“ADDSCAN”s), and 2-dimensional full-resolution images (“FRESCO”s). The goal was to assemble the best set of observed IRAS colour indices for different WR types, in particular for known dusty WCL objects. These colour indices define zones in the IRAS colour-colour plane. By searching the PSC for otherwise unassociated sources that satisfy these colours, I have identified potential new WR candidates, too faint to have been recognized in previous optical searches. I have extracted these candidates' IRAS Low Resolution Spectrometer (LRS) data and compared the spectra with the highly characteristic LRS shape for known dusty WCL stars. Any surviving candidates must now be examined by optical spectroscopy. This work represents a much more rigorous and exhaustive version of the LRS study that identified IRAS 17380-3031 (WR98a) as the first new WR (WC9) star discovered by IRAS (Cohen et al. 1991).

We perform a stacking analysis of Planck, AKARI, Infrared Astronomical Satellite, Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, and Herschel images of the largest number of (candidate) protoclusters at z ∼ 3.8 selected from the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program. Stacking the images of the 179 candidate protoclusters, the combined infrared (IR) emission of the protocluster galaxies in the observed 12–850 μm wavelength range is successfully detected with >5σ significance (at Planck). This is the first time that the average IR spectral energy distribution (SED) of a protocluster has been constrained at z ∼ 4. The observed IR SEDs of the protoclusters exhibit significant excess emission in the mid-IR compared to that expected from typical star-forming galaxies (SFGs). They are reproduced well using SED models of intense starburst galaxies with warm/hot dust heated by young stars, or by a population of active galactic nucleus (AGN)/SFG composites. For the pure star-forming model, a total IR (from 8–1000 μm) luminosity of 19.3 − 4.2 + 0.6 × 10 13 L ⊙ and a star formation rate of 16.3 − 7.8 + 1.0 × 10 3 M ⊙ yr−1 are found, whereas for the AGN/SFG composite model, 5.1 − 2.5 + 2.5 × 10 13 L ⊙ and 2.1 − 1.7 + 6.3 × 10 3 M ⊙ yr−1 are found. Uncertainty remains in the total SFRs; however, the IR luminosities of the most massive protoclusters are likely to continue increasing up to z ∼ 4. Meanwhile, no significant IR flux excess is observed around optically selected QSOs at similar redshifts, which confirms previous results. Our results suggest that the z ∼ 4 protoclusters trace dense, intensely star-forming environments that may also host obscured AGNs missed by the selection in the optical.