The IRAC Dark Field; Far- Infrared to X-ray Data

TL;DR

This paper introduces a comprehensive multi-wavelength dataset from the IRAC Dark Field, combining deep infrared to X-ray observations, enabling diverse astrophysical studies of galaxies, stars, and cosmic structures.

Contribution

It provides the first deep, multi-band photometric catalog from far-IR to X-ray in the IRAC Dark Field, including data calibration, catalog generation, and initial analysis tools.

Findings

Deepest mid-IR data to date.

High-quality, low-background imaging across 20 bands.

Initial photometric redshift estimates and color diagrams.

Abstract

We present 20 band photometry from the far-IR to X-ray in the Spitzer IRAC dark field. The bias for the near-IR camera on Spitzer is calibrated by observing a ~20 arcminute diameter "dark" field near the north ecliptic pole roughly every two-to-three weeks throughout the mission duration of Spitzer. The field is unique for its extreme depth, low background, high quality imaging, time-series information, and accompanying photometry including data taken with Akari, Palomar, MMT, KPNO, Hubble, and Chandra. This serendipitous survey contains the deepest mid-IR data taken to date. This dataset is well suited for studies of intermediate redshift galaxy clusters, high redshift galaxies, the first generation of stars, and the lowest mass brown dwarfs, among others. This paper provides a summary of the data characteristics and catalog generation from all bands collected to date as well as a discussion of photometric redshifts and initial and expected science results and goals. To illustrate the scientific potential of this unique dataset, we also present here IRAC color color diagrams.