LIFTING THE DUSTY VEIL WITH NEAR- AND MID-INFRARED PHOTOMETRY. III. TWO-DIMENSIONAL EXTINCTION MAPS OF THE GALACTIC MIDPLANE USING THE RAYLEIGH-JEANS COLOR EXCESS METHOD

Journal Article · Wed Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 2012 · Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0067-0049/201/2/35· OSTI ID:22047594

Nidever, David L; Zasowski, Gail

We provide new, high-resolution A(K{sub s} ) extinction maps of the heavily reddened Galactic midplane based on the Rayleigh-Jeans Color Excess ({sup R}JCE{sup )} method. RJCE determines star-by-star reddening based on a combination of near- and mid-infrared photometry. The new RJCE-generated maps have 2' Multiplication-Sign 2' pixels and span some of the most severely extinguished regions of the Galaxy-those covered with Spitzer/IRAC imaging by the GLIMPSE-I, -II, -3D, and Vela-Carina surveys, from 256 Degree-Sign < l < 65 Degree-Sign and, in general, for |b| {<=} 1 Degree-Sign -1.{sup 0}5 (extending up to |b| {<=} 4 Degree-Sign in the bulge). Using RJCE extinction measurements, we generate dereddened color-magnitude diagrams and, in turn, create maps based on main sequence, red clump, and red giant star tracers, each probing different distances and thereby providing coarse three-dimensional information on the relative placement of dust cloud structures. The maps generated from red giant stars, which reach to {approx}18-20 kpc, probe beyond most of the Milky Way extinction in most directions and provide close to a 'total Galactic extinction' map-at minimum they provide high angular resolution maps of lower limits on A(K{sub s} ). Because these maps are generated directly from measurements of reddening by the very dust being mapped, rather than inferred on the basis of some less direct means, they are likely the most accurate to date for charting in detail the highly patchy differential extinction in the Galactic midplane. We provide downloadable FITS files and an IDL tool for retrieving extinction values for any line of sight within our mapped regions.

• OSTI ID: 22047594
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 201; ISSN 0067-0049; ISSN APJSA2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
COLOR
DUSTS
INTERMEDIATE INFRARED RADIATION
MEASURING METHODS
MILKY WAY
NEAR INFRARED RADIATION
PHOTOMETRY
PROBES
RED GIANT STARS
RESOLUTION
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS