An atlas of mid-infrared spectra of star-forming and active galaxies

TL;DR

This paper provides a comprehensive atlas of mid-infrared spectra from Spitzer/IRS for various extragalactic sources, enabling classification and analysis of galaxy types based on spectral features.

Contribution

It offers a homogeneous, extensive spectral atlas with derived diagnostics and templates for diverse galaxy classes, enhancing tools for extragalactic infrared studies.

Findings

Spectral features enable classification of galaxy types.

Derived templates for different galaxy classes.

Publicly available spectral atlas and measurements.

Abstract

We present a panoramic atlas of Spitzer/IRS spectra of extragalactic sources collected from the recent literature, with value added measurements of their spectral features obtained in a homogeneous and concise manner. The atlas covers the full spectrum of the extragalactic universe and includes star forming galaxies, obscured and unobscured active galaxies, luminous and ultra-luminous infrared galaxies, and hybrid objects. Measured features such as the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, the strength of the silicates in emission or absorption around 9.7 micron, rest-frame monochromatic luminosities or colours, combined with measurements derived from spectral decomposition, are used to establish diagnostics that allow for classification of sources, based on their infrared properties alone. Average templates of the various classes are also derived. The full atlas with the value added measurements and ancillary archival data are publicly available at http://www.denebola.org/atlas, with full references to the original data.