Marcia J. Rieke

The Spitzer Space Telescope Mission

The Spitzer Space Telescope, NASAs Great Observatory for infrared astronomy, was launched 2003 August 25 and is returning excellent scientific data from its Earth-trailing solar orbit. Spitzer combines the intrinsic sensitivity achievable with a cryogenic telescope in space with the great imaging and spectroscopic power of modern detector arrays to provide the user community with huge gains in capability for exploration of the cosmos in the infrared. The observatory systems are largely performing as expected, and the projected cryogenic lifetime is in excess of 5 years. This paper summarizes the on-orbit scientific, technical, and operational performance of Spitzer. Subsequent papers in this special issue describe the Spitzer instruments in detail and highlight many of the exciting scientific results obtained during the first 6 months of the Spitzer mission.

SINGS: The SIRTF Nearby Galaxies Survey

The SIRTF Nearby Galaxy Survey is a comprehensive infrared imaging and spectroscopic survey of 75 nearby galaxies. Its primary goal is to characterize the infrared emission of galaxies and their principal infrared-emitting components, across a broad range of galaxy properties and star formation environments. SINGS will provide new insights into the physical processes connecting star formation to the interstellar medium properties of galaxies and provide a vital foundation for understanding infrared observations of the distant universe and ultraluminous and active galaxies. The galaxy sample and observing strategy have been designed to maximize the scientific and archival value of the data set for the SIRTF user community at large. The SIRTF images and spectra will be supplemented by a comprehensive multiwavelength library of ancillary and complementary observations, including radio continuum, H i, CO, submillimeter, BVRIJHK ,H a ,P aa, ultraviolet, and X-ray data. This paper describes the main astrophysical issues to be addressed by SINGS, the galaxy sample and the observing strategy, and the SIRTF and other ancillary data products.

A New System of Faint Near-Infrared Standard Stars

A new grid of 65 faint near-infrared standard stars is presented. They are spread around the sky, lie between 10th and 12th magnitude at K, and are measured in most cases to precisions better than 0.001 mag in the J, H, K, and Ks bands; the latter is a medium-band modified K. A secondary list of red stars suitable for determining color transformations between photometric systems is also presented.

The James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large (6.6 m), cold (<50 K), infrared (IR)-optimized space observatory that will be launched early in the next decade into orbit around the second Earth–Sun Lagrange point. The observatory will have four instruments: a near-IR camera, a near-IR multiobject spectrograph, and a tunable filter imager will cover the wavelength range, 0.6 < ; < 5.0 μ m, while the mid-IR instrument will do both imaging and spectroscopy from 5.0 < ; < 29 μ m.The JWST science goals are divided into four themes. The key objective of The End of the Dark Ages: First Light and Reionization theme is to identify the first luminous sources to form and to determine the ionization history of the early universe. The key objective of The Assembly of Galaxies theme is to determine how galaxies and the dark matter, gas, stars, metals, morphological structures, and active nuclei within them evolved from the epoch of reionization to the present day. The key objective of The Birth of Stars and Protoplanetary Systems theme is to unravel the birth and early evolution of stars, from infall on to dust-enshrouded protostars to the genesis of planetary systems. The key objective of the Planetary Systems and the Origins of Life theme is to determine the physical and chemical properties of planetary systems including our own, and investigate the potential for the origins of life in those systems. Within these themes and objectives, we have derived representative astronomical observations.To enable these observations, JWST consists of a telescope, an instrument package, a spacecraft, and a sunshield. The telescope consists of 18 beryllium segments, some of which are deployed. The segments will be brought into optical alignment on-orbit through a process of periodic wavefront sensing and control. The instrument package contains the four science instruments and a fine guidance sensor. The spacecraft provides pointing, orbit maintenance, and communications. The sunshield provides passive thermal control. The JWST operations plan is based on that used for previous space observatories, and the majority of JWST observing time will be allocated to the international astronomical community through annual peer-reviewed proposal opportunities.

SPITZER VIEW ON THE EVOLUTION OF STAR-FORMING GALAXIES FROM z = 0 TO z ~ 3

We use a 24 ?m-selected sample containing more than 8000 sources to study the evolution of star-forming galaxies in the redshift range from z = 0 to z ~ 3. We obtain photometric redshifts for most of the sources in our survey using a method based on empirically built templates spanning from ultraviolet to mid-infrared wavelengths. The accuracy of these redshifts is better than 10% for 80% of the sample. The derived redshift distribution of the sources detected by our survey peaks at around z = 0.6-1.0 (the location of the peak being affected by cosmic variance) and decays monotonically from z ~ 1 to z ~ 3. We have fitted infrared luminosity functions in several redshift bins in the range 0 1011 L?) to the total SFR density increases steadily from z ~ 0 up to z ~ 2.5, forming at least half of the newly born stars by z ~ 1.5. Ultraluminous infrared galaxies (LTIR > 1012 L?) play a rapidly increasing role for z 1.3.

Star Formation in NGC 5194 (M51a): The Panchromatic View from GALEX to Spitzer*

(Abridged) Far ultraviolet to far infrared images of the nearby galaxy NGC5194, from Spitzer, GALEX, Hubble Space Telescope and ground--based data, are used to investigate local and global star formation, and the impact of dust extinction in HII-emitting knots. In the IR/UV-UV color plane, the NGC5194 HII knots show the same trend observed for normal star-forming galaxies, having a much larger dispersion than starburst galaxies. We identify the dispersion as due to the UV emission predominantly tracing the evolved, non-ionizing stellar population, up to ages 50-100 Myr. While in starbursts the UV light traces the current SFR, in NGC5194 it traces a combination of current and recent-past SFR. Unlike the UV emission, the monochromatic 24 micron luminosity is an accurate local SFR tracer for the HII knots in NGC5194; this suggests that the 24 micron emission carriers are mainly heated by the young, ionizing stars. However, preliminary results show that the ratio of the 24 micron emission to the SFR varies by a factor of a few from galaxy to galaxy. While also correlated with star formation, the 8 micron emission is not directly proportional to the number of ionizing photons. This confirms earlier suggestions that the carriers of the 8 micron emission are heated by more than one mechanism.

Spitzer Observations of Massive, Red Galaxies at High Redshift*

We study massive galaxies at z ~ 1-3.5 using HST optical imaging, ground-based near-IR imaging, and Spitzer observations at 3-24 μm. From Ks-selected galaxies in the 130 arcmin2 GOODS-S field, we identify 153 distant red galaxies (DRGs) with (J - Ks)Vega ≥ 2.3. This sample is approximately complete in stellar mass for passively evolving galaxies above 1011 M☉ and z ≤ 3. Roughly half of the DRGs are objects whose optical and near-IR rest-frame light is dominated by evolved stars combined with ongoing star formation (at zmed ~ 2.5), and the others are galaxies whose light is dominated by heavily reddened (A1600 4-6 mag) starbursts (at zmed ~ 1.7). Very few DRGs (10%) have no indication of current star formation. DRGs at z ~ 1.5-3 with stellar masses ≥1011 M☉ have specific star formation rates (SFRs per unit mass) including the reradiated far-IR emission that range from 0.2 to 10 Gyr-1. Based on the X-ray luminosities and rest-frame near-IR colors, roughly one-quarter of the DRGs contain AGNs, implying that the growth of supermassive black holes coincides with the formation of massive galaxies. At 1.5 ≤ z ≤ 3, the DRGs with M ≥ 1011 M☉ have an integrated specific SFR comparable to the global value of all galaxies. In contrast, galaxies at z ~ 0.3-0.75 with M ≥ 1011 M☉ have an integrated specific SFR less than the global value and more than an order of magnitude lower than that for massive DRGs. At z 1, lower mass galaxies dominate the overall cosmic mass assembly. This suggests that the bulk of star formation in massive galaxies occurs at early cosmic epochs and is largely complete by z ~ 1.5. Further mass assembly in these galaxies takes place with low specific SFRs.

NICMOS Imaging of Infrared-Luminous Galaxies

We present near-infrared images obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS camera for a sample of nine luminous [LIGs: LIR(8?1000 ?m) ? 1011 L?] and 15 ultraluminous (ULIGS: LIR ? 1012 L?) infrared galaxies. The sample includes representative systems classified as warm (f25 ?m/f60 ?m > 0.2) and cold (f25 ?m/f60 ?m ? 0.2) based on the mid-infrared colors and systems with nuclear emission lines classified as H II (i.e., starburst), QSO, Seyfert, and LINER. The morphologies of the sample galaxies are diverse and provide further support for the idea that they are created by the collision or interactions of spiral galaxies. Although no new nuclei are seen in the NICMOS images, the NICMOS images do reveal new spiral structures, bridges, and circumnuclear star clusters. The colors and the luminosities of the observed clusters are consistent with them being young (107?108 yr), formed as a result of galactic interactions, and having masses much greater than those of Galactic globular clusters. In NGC 6090 and VV 114, they are preferentially situated along the area of overlap of the two galactic disks. With the exception of IR 17208-0018, all of the ULIGs have at least one compact (2.2??m FWHM ? 200 pc) nucleus. Analysis of the near-infrared colors (i.e., m1.1?1.6 vs. m1.6?2.2) derived from 11 diameter apertures suggests that the warm galaxies have near-infrared colors consistent with QSO+hot dust emission and the cold galaxies, as a group, have near-infrared colors consistent with reddened starlight. In addition, the cold ULIG UGC 5101 (and possibly three others) have near-infrared colors suggesting additional active galactic nucleus?like near-infrared components in their nuclei. In a 2 kpc diameter aperture measurement, the global colors of all of the cold galaxies except UGC 5101 are consistent with starlight with a few magnitudes of visual extinction. The general dichotomy of the near-infrared properties of the warm and the cold galaxies are further supported by the light distributions: seven of the eight warm galaxies have unresolved nuclear emission that contributes significantly (i.e., ?30%?40%) to the total near-infrared luminosity. The smooth, more extended light observed in all of the galaxies is most likely composed of giant and supergiant stars, but evidence at longer wavelengths suggests that these stars contribute little to the high 8?1000 ?m luminosity of these galaxies. Finally, light profiles of nine of the 24 systems were fitted well by an r1/4 law (and not so well by an exponential disk profile). Whether these star systems eventually become massive central bulges or giant elliptical galaxies will depend on how efficiently the present ISM is converted into stars.

Measuring Distances and Probing the Unresolved Stellar Populations of Galaxies Using Infrared Surface Brightness Fluctuations

To empirically calibrate the IR surface brightness fluctuation (SBF) distance scale and probe the properties of unresolved stellar populations, we measured fluctuations in 65 galaxies using NICMOS on the Hubble Space Telescope. The early-type galaxies in this sample include elliptical and S0 galaxies and spiral bulges in a variety of environments. Absolute fluctuation magnitudes in the F160W (1.6 ?m) filter (F160W) were derived for each galaxy using previously measured I-band SBF and Cepheid variable star distances. F160W SBFs can be used to measure distances to early-type galaxies with a relative accuracy of ~10%, provided that the galaxy color is known to ~0.035 mag or better. Near-IR fluctuations can also reveal the properties of the most luminous stellar populations in galaxies. Comparison of F160W fluctuation magnitudes and optical colors to stellar population model predictions suggests that bluer elliptical and S0 galaxies have significantly younger populations than redder ones and may also be more metal-rich. There are no galaxies in this sample with fluctuation magnitudes consistent with old, metal-poor (t > 5 Gyr, [Fe/H] < -0.7) stellar population models. Composite stellar population models imply that bright fluctuations in the bluer galaxies may be the result of an episode of recent star formation in a fraction of the total mass of a galaxy. Age estimates from the F160W fluctuation magnitudes are consistent with those measured using the H? Balmer-line index. The two types of measurements make use of completely different techniques and are sensitive to stars in different evolutionary phases. Both techniques reveal the presence of intermediate-age stars in the early-type galaxies of this sample.

The 24 Micron Source Counts in Deep Spitzer Space Telescope Surveys

Galaxy source counts in the infrared provide strong constraints on the evolution of the bolometric energy output from distant galaxy populations. We present the results from deep 24 μm imaging from Spitzer surveys, which include ≈5 × 10^4 sources to an 80% completeness of ≃ 60 μJy. The 24 μm counts rapidly rise at near-Euclidean rates down to 5 mJy, increase with a super-Euclidean rate between 0.4 and 4 mJy, and converge below ~0.3 mJy. The 24 μm counts exceed expectations from nonevolving models by a factor of ≳10 at S_ν ~ 0.1 mJy. The peak in the differential number counts corresponds to a population of faint sources that is not expected from predictions based on 15 μm counts from the Infrared Space Observatory. We argue that this implies the existence of a previously undetected population of infrared-luminous galaxies at z ~ 1-3. Integrating the counts to 60 μJy, we derive a lower limit on the 24 μm background intensity of 1.9 ± 0.6 nW m^(-2) sr^(-1) of which the majority (~60%) stems from sources fainter than 0.4 mJy. Extrapolating to fainter flux densities, sources below 60 μJy contribute 0.8^(+0.9)_(-0.4) nW m^(-2) sr^(-1) to the background, which provides an estimate of the total 24 μm background of 2.7^(+1.1)_(-0.7) nW m^(-2) sr^(-1).