Spitzer mid-infrared point sources in the fields of nearby galaxies

TL;DR

This paper provides detailed mid-infrared point source catalogs for five nearby galaxies using Spitzer data, enabling future stellar and galaxy studies.

Contribution

It presents comprehensive mid-infrared point source catalogs for five nearby galaxies, including photometry and detection limits, serving as a resource for future research.

Findings

Detected over 20,000 sources across five galaxies.

Established magnitude limits for source detection.

Catalogs facilitate stellar population and JWST planning.

Abstract

We present $Spitzer$ IRAC mid-infrared point source catalogs for mosaics covering the fields of the nearby ($\lesssim$4 Mpc) galaxies NGC 55, NGC 253, NGC 2366, NGC 4214, and NGC 5253. We detect a total of 20159 sources in these five fields. Point spread function photometry was performed on sources detected in both $Spitzer$ IRAC 3.6 $\mu$m and 4.5 $\mu$m bands at greater than 3$\sigma$ above background. These data were then supplemented by aperture photometry in the IRAC 5.8 $\mu$m and 8.0 $\mu$m bands conducted at the positions of the shorter wavelength sources. For sources with no detected object in the longer wavelengths, we estimated magnitude limits based on the local sky background. The individual galaxy point source breakdown is the following: NGC 55, 8746 sources; NGC 253, 9001 sources; NGC 2366, 505 sources; NGC 4214, 1185 sources; NGC 5253, 722 sources. The completeness limits of the full catalog vary with bandpass and were found to be $m_{3.6}=18.0$, $m_{4.5}=17.5$, $m_{5.8}=17.0$, and $m_{8.0}=16.5$ mag. For all galaxies, this corresponds to detection of point sources brighter than $M_{3.6}=-10$. These catalogs can be used as a reference for stellar population investigations, individual stellar object studies, and in planning future mid-infrared observations with the James Webb Space Telescope.