Commentary on interstellar matter associated with 18 open clusters

Information supplementary to that contained in Section 4 of an article entitled, A CO Survey of Regions Around 34 Open Clusters, (Leisawitz, Bash, and Thaddeus) published in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, Volume 70, Number 4, August 1989 is summarized. The information presented here, which describes the interstellar environments of young clusters and some cluster physical characteristics, comes from observations published in the astronomical literature and the author's carbon monoxide (CO) emission line survey, and may help clarify our understanding of the interaction of massive stars with the interstellar medium

Catalog of open clusters and associated interstellar matter

The Catalog of Open Clusters and Associated Interstellar Matter summarizes observations of 128 open clusters and their associated ionized, atomic, and molecular iinterstellar matter. Cluster sizes, distances, radial velocities, ages, and masses, and the radial velocities and masses of associated interstellar medium components, are given. The database contains information from approximately 400 references published in the scientific literature before 1988

SPECS: the kilometer-baseline far-IR interferometer in NASA's space science roadmap

Ultimately, after the Single Aperture Far-IR (SAFIR) telescope, astrophysicists will need a far-IR observatory that provides angular resolution comparable to that of the Hubble Space Telescope. At such resolution galaxies at high redshift, protostars, and nascent planetary systems will be resolved, and theoretical models for galaxy, star, and planet formation and evolution can be subjected to important observational tests. This paper updates information provided in a 2000 SPIE paper on the scientific motivation and design concepts for interferometric missions SPIRIT (the Space Infrared Interferometric Telescope) and SPECS (the Submillimeter Probe of the Evolution of Cosmic Structure). SPECS is a kilometer baseline far-IR/submillimeter imaging and spectral interferometer that depends on formation flying, and SPIRIT is a highly-capable pathfinder interferometer on a boom with a maximum baseline in the 30 - 50 m range. We describe recent community planning activities, remind readers of the scientific rationale for space-based far-infrared imaging interferometry, present updated design concepts for the SPIRIT and SPECS missions, and describe the main issues currently under study. The engineering and technology requirements for SPIRIT and SPECS, additional design details, recent technology developments, and technology roadmaps are given in a companion paper in the Proceedings of the conference on New Frontiers in Stellar Interferometry

The WIRED Survey. IV. New Dust Disks from the McCook & Sion White Dwarf Catalog

We have compiled photometric data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer All Sky Survey and other archival sources for the more than 2200 objects in the original McCook & Sion Catalog of Spectroscopically Identified White Dwarfs. We applied color-selection criteria to identify 28 targets whose infrared spectral energy distributions depart from the expectation for the white dwarf photosphere alone. Seven of these are previously known white dwarfs with circumstellar dust disks, five are known central stars of planetary nebulae, and six were excluded for being known binaries or having possible contamination of their infrared photometry. We fit white dwarf models to the spectral energy distributions of the remaining ten targets, and find seven new candidates with infrared excess suggesting the presence of a circumstellar dust disk. We compare the model dust disk properties for these new candidates with a comprehensive compilation of previously published parameters for known white dwarfs with dust disks. It is possible that the current census of white dwarfs with dust disks that produce an excess detectable at K-band and shorter wavelengths is close to complete for the entire sample of known WDs to the detection limits of existing near-IR all-sky surveys. The white dwarf dust disk candidates now being found using longer wavelength infrared data are drawn from a previously underrepresented region of parameter space, in which the dust disks are overall cooler, narrower in radial extent, and/or contain fewer emitting grains.Comment: accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal; 34 pages, 5 figures, 5 tables; added missing reference in Section 2 (p. 7

The Path to Far-IR Interferometry in Space: Recent Developments, Plans, and Prospects

The far-IR astrophysics community is eager to follow up Spitzer and Herschel observations with sensitive, highresolution imaging and spectroscopy, for such measurements are needed to understand merger-driven star formation and chemical enrichment in galaxies, star and planetary system formation, and the development and prevalence of waterbearing planets. The community is united in its support for a space-based interferometry mission. Through concerted efforts worldwide, the key enabling technologies are maturing. Two balloon-borne far-IR interferometers are presently under development. This paper reviews recent technological and programmatic developments, summarizes plans, and offers a vision for space-based far-IR interferometry involving international collaboration

The Space Infrared Interferometric Telescope (SPIRIT)

The far-infrared astrophysics community is eager to follow up Spitzer and Herschel observations with sensitive, high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy, for such measurements are needed to understand merger-driven star formation and chemical enrichment in galaxies, star and planetary system formation, and the development and prevalence of water-bearing planets. The Space Infrared Interferometric Telescope (SPIRIT) is a wide field-of-view space-based spatio-spectral interferometer designed to operate in the 25 to 400 micron wavelength range. This talk will summarize the SPIRIT mission concept, with a focus on the science that motivates it and the technology that enables it. Without mentioning SPIRIT by name, the astrophysics community through the NASA Astrophysics Roadmap Committee recently recommended this mission as the first in a series of space-based interferometers. Data from a laboratory testbed interferometer will be used to illustrate how the spatio-spectral interferometry technique works

Warm Debris Disk Candidates from WISE

The Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has just completed a sensitive all-sky survey in photometric bands at 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 microns. We report on a preliminary investigation of main sequence Hipparcos and Tycho catalog stars with 22 micron emission in excess of photospheric levels. This warm excess emission traces material in the circumstellar region likely to host terrestrial planets and is preferentially found in young systems with ages < 1 Gyr. Nearly a hundred new warm debris disk candidates are detected among FGK stars and 150 A stars within 120 pc. We are in the process of obtaining spectra to determine spectral types and activity level of these stars and are using HST, Herschel and Keck to characterize the dust, multiplicity, and substellar companions of these systems. In this contribution, we will discuss source selection methods and individual examples from among the WISE debris disk candidates

System Engineering the Space Infrared Interferometric Telescope (SPIRIT)

The Space Infrared Interferometric Telescope (SPIRIT) was designed to accomplish three scientific objectives: (1) learn how planetary systems form from protostellar disks and how they acquire their inhomogeneous chemical composition; (2) characterize the family of extrasolar planetary systems by imaging the structure in debris disks to understand how and where planets of different types form; and (3) learn how high-redshift galaxies formed and merged to form the present-day population of galaxies. SPIRIT will accomplish these objectives through infrared observations with a two aperture interferometric instrument. This paper gives an overview of SPIRIT design and operation, and how the three design cycle concept study was completed. The error budget for several key performance values allocates tolerances to all contributing factors, and a performance model of the spacecraft plus instrument system demonstrates meeting those allocations with margin

SPECS: the kilometer-baseline far-IR interferometer in NASA's space science roadmap

Ultimately, after the Single Aperture Far-IR (SAFIR) telescope, astrophysicists will need a far-IR observatory that provides angular resolution comparable to that of the Hubble Space Telescope. At such resolution galaxies at high redshift, protostars, and nascent planetary systems will be resolved, and theoretical models for galaxy, star, and planet formation and evolution can be subjected to important observational tests. This paper updates information provided in a 2000 SPIE paper on the scientific motivation and design concepts for interferometric missions SPIRIT (the Space Infrared Interferometric Telescope) and SPECS (the Submillimeter Probe of the Evolution of Cosmic Structure). SPECS is a kilometer baseline far-IR/submillimeter imaging and spectral interferometer that depends on formation flying, and SPIRIT is a highly-capable pathfinder interferometer on a boom with a maximum baseline in the 30 - 50 m range. We describe recent community planning activities, remind readers of the scientific rationale for space-based far-infrared imaging interferometry, present updated design concepts for the SPIRIT and SPECS missions, and describe the main issues currently under study. The engineering and technology requirements for SPIRIT and SPECS, additional design details, recent technology developments, and technology roadmaps are given in a companion paper in the Proceedings of the conference on New Frontiers in Stellar Interferometry

Motivation and Prospects for Spatio-spectral Interferometry in the Far-infrared

Consensus developed through a series of workshops, starting in 1998. Compelling science case for high angular resolution imaging and spectroscopy, and mission concepts. A robust plan - it has evolved over the years, but has consistently called for high resolution